Sucker
Copyright November 24, 2002-January 20, 2006 by Matthew Haldeman-Time
Rating: NC-17 for graphic male-male sex
Pairings: Backstreet Boys/*NSYNC/O-Town
Disclaimer: The young men who comprise the Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, and O-Town are their own people. The author has not met anyone here described, nor does the author mean to suggest that these people act this way in real life. This writing is a work of fiction. I make no money from this venture.
Growling, groaning, grunting, they fucked their way across the floor. Kissing, hissing, they pushed each other, scratched each other, demanded from each other. AJ cursed, bit, rocked, thrust. Justin clawed his way across the carpet, clawed his way across AJ’s body.
Lance had gone to Howie’s house with questions on his lips. What did Howie think of Jacob? How had Jacob reacted to Howie? What had they talked about?
Then the door had opened, and he’d seen Howie. The sight of Howie had registered, and his priorities had shifted.
He’d tried to maintain his momentum. He’d still needed answers, he’d still needed to know about the dinner, he’d still needed to hear about it from Howie.
But he’d also needed other things. He’d needed to know the exact smoothness of Howie’s skin. He’d needed to know the exact pliancy of Howie’s lips. He’d needed to know the exact heat of Howie’s body pressed to his. He’d needed to know the perfection of Howie’s body under those clothes.
He already knew those things, had memorized them long ago. Somehow, that only increased his desire.
When Howie had not only opened the door but let him inside, he’d known that Howie had something in mind. Howie wouldn’t have engaged in conversation or indulged his visit, otherwise. It might not necessarily have been sex; Howie might have wanted to pass along a message. But immediately, the possibility had been there.
Then, the clues had piled up. Howie had mentioned sex, and then hadn’t let the subject go. Howie had moved around the room, around the table, without any purpose other than drawing attention to himself - - his movements, his body. Howie had stood too close to him. Howie had initiated physical contact. Howie had let him come even closer without pulling away. Howie had given a lot of the right signals without ever hinting at “no.”
Howie wanted him. Why the hell would Howie keep letting him in like this if Howie didn’t want him? There was absolutely no reason at all for Howie to continue to have sex with him if Howie didn’t want it. Howie had a million reasons not to, a million excuses not to. But it kept happening.
Lance couldn’t say no. Not to Howie, not to this.
Howie’s skin was impossibly smooth, alluring, pure against Lance’s touch. His lips were generously soft, playing a seductive game of give and take. The heat of his body made Lance moan. The caress of his hands, the need in his breath, the hardening of his arousal triggered a series of automatic responses in Lance that culminated in the urge to please Howie, to fuck Howie, to supply what he’d been trained to believe Howie wanted.
His first instinct was to fuck Howie right there on the table. That had been, in fact, the primary thought on his mind since entering the house.
But that would make this about Jacob. And it wasn’t, anymore.
It was about Howie.
Everything was about Howie.
Lance’s damned life was about Howie.
“I love you,” he whispered, hungrily kissing Howie’s neck, his hands roaming greedily. He didn’t say it to prove something, to provoke a reaction, or as a test. He said it because he felt it. “I love you.”
With a sexy moan, Howie kissed him, the hardness of Howie’s erection, the hardness of Howie’s entire muscular body, evident and pressed against him. “Lance,” Howie whispered, and Lance’s heart pounded. He kissed Howie deeper, stroking Howie’s neck, and Howie moaned again, louder this time, hands gripping his clothes and keeping him close.
When Lance lifted Howie’s shirt, running his hands over Howie’s gorgeous body, loving through touch, Howie groaned, taking a step back, tugging him along. Howie was leading the way to the bedroom. The table was right there, right there, but Howie wasn’t even going to pretend to make this about Jacob. Howie was letting this be about them, just them.
Lance didn’t know why Howie would give him this. But he couldn’t refuse it.
Sweating, unmoving, AJ breathed against Justin’s neck.
Blinking at random, feeling somewhat like he’d just tapped into a
part of himself he’d never met, Justin stroked AJ’s hair.
A bead of sweat trickled down Justin’s neck. AJ licked it up.
Yawning, Jacob relaxed on his back on the bed.
“Are you falling asleep on me?” Brian asked.
“Of course not.” He yawned again, then laughed
at the offended expression on Brian’s face. “Seriously, I’m awake.”
“It’s okay. It’s fine, I didn’t mean to bore you.”
“You never bore me.” He smiled as Brian lay down beside him; he rolled onto his side, putting them face-to-face. “I think you’re fascinating.”
“I think you’re fascinating, too.” Brian stroked his pulled-back dreads, then drew a line down his nose. “I should probably go.”
“You can stay.” He couldn’t believe how often Brian touched him. He ran his own fingertips down Brian’s cheek, and Brian just kept looking at him. How comfortable was Brian was touching other men? With being touched by other men? Where were Brian’s limits? There had to be some, somewhere. Jacob didn’t want to come across them too soon; he had to start small and build gradually.
“There’s an offer no one could refuse.” Brian smiled at him. “But I have to get home.”
“No, you don’t.” He stroked Brian’s sideburns.
“I don’t?” Brian looked interested, curious.
“You don’t.” Jacob’s heart pounded weirdly. He was touching Brian. They were on his bed, together, face-to-face. He was inches from Brian, gazing right into Brian’s eyes, so close, so terribly close. He stroked the edge of Brian’s eyebrow where it faded into nothingness. “You just think that you’re supposed to.”
“I can’t stay here,” Brian said softly, like it hurt and he needed Jacob to have mercy on him. “We talked about this.”
“You talked about it.”
Brian said his name, quietly.
He couldn’t look at Brian and not think it; he couldn’t be this close and not feel it; it pressed heavily against his chest and put an ache in the back of his throat. “God, you’re beautiful.”
A smile. “Don’t change the subject.”
He almost laughed. He loved how humble Brian was, how happy Brian made him. How Brian smiled, and could make him smile, no matter what. “I’m not.”
“You are.” Brian tapped his nose. “I’ll be back tomorrow.”
“You wouldn’t have to come back if you’d stay here.” He touched Brian’s hair. It was soft, and fine, and he didn’t want to stop touching it.
“But this way I get to miss you. I like missing you.” Brian smiled. “It reminds me of how much I love you.”
“We don’t need reminders. We know we love each other.” He had more romantic conversations with Brian than with some girls he’d dated.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Brian said. A slow caress, Brian’s touch on his chin. “Good night, Jacob.”
He’d gotten so much tonight, he could let Brian go. Their closeness, their intimacy, only showed him that soon, conversations like this one would be a thing of the past. Soon, they’d spend every night together. He brushed his fingers through the hair curling onto Brian’s forehead. “Good night.” He touched Brian’s cheek one more time, and smiled. “Miss me.”
Brian smiled back. “I always do.”
With his back to the headboard, Lance rocked up into Howie, his hands on Howie’s hips bringing Howie down to meet each upward thrust. The need in his body pounded down into his dick, making him plunge forcefully into Howie’s heat.
Moaning, Howie moved with him, obeying the push and pull of his hands, both hungry and submissive at once. Howie’s kisses consumed him with lust and passion, and as Howie rose and fell on his erection, Howie’s body slid against his, hot from the fire burning within them.
Making intensely erotic sounds, richly aroused and demanding more, Howie straightened and then arched, gripping Lance’s shoulders, Lance’s hair. With a low groan, Lance kissed Howie’s skin, licking sweat from the hollow of Howie’s collarbone, sucking, kissing down Howie’s chest, moaning in rhythm with their bodies.
“Yes, Lance,” Howie said, moaning like each stroke was perfection. Howie’s hands in his hair brought him in for another kiss, tongues tangling eagerly. Lance tightened his grip on Howie’s hips, pulling Howie down, sealing their bodies together on every thrust. The sounds of Howie’s breathless moans made Lance’s pulse race, made Lance want to fulfill Howie’s every desire, filled him with a need to give Howie more pleasure, more ecstasy, more love.
Smoothing Kevin’s shirts with obsessive hands, Justin folded them with the utmost of care.
“Are you coming or what?” AJ asked, starting the shower.
“Hold on!” Protectively, he tucked them away, kissing them first.
Once they were safe, he joined AJ in the bathroom.
After they’d made love, even though it was still early in the evening, Chris had fallen asleep. Wanting to stay close, Trevor had alternately watched him sleep and dozed with him.
Then Chris had wakened with a start, weirdly alert and wide-eyed. Since then, he’d been quiet, but he hadn’t really calmed down.
Chris kept telling him to go to sleep, but he couldn’t sleep while Chris was fidgeting in his hair.
Eventually, Chris asked, “Can I use the
kitchen?”
The kitchen? “Sure.” Trevor wondered why. “Use anything you
want.”
Pulling away, Chris got up, dressing. “Come with me,” he said, zipping up.
Trevor was in. “What are we making?” he asked, finding clothes.
“Depends on what’s available.” Chris opened the door. “Do you have lemons?”
Joey couldn’t tell if there actually was a weird vibe in the house, or if it was his imagination. If the weird vibe existed, was it coming from Nick or from him?
Was Nick getting weird because he’d fucked AJ?
It couldn’t have been a big shock to Nick. Joey had been pretty damned clear about his priorities. What AJ wanted, AJ got. Period. End of fucking sentence. AJ was the number one thing in Joey’s life, and nothing else meant more. Especially not this damned game or Nick’s precious little feelings.
Assuming that Nick’s emotions had anything to do with Joey’s actions. They never had, before. Yeah, Nick kept talking about boyfriend this, boyfriend that, but they both knew that it didn’t mean anything.
Then why was there a weird vibe?
Was there a weird vibe?
Why couldn’t Joey have some peace in his own house? It was bad enough, having Nick around all of the time; now Nick had to make him uncomfortable in his own home?
When Nick came back into the living room, and sat beside him on the couch, Joey decided to speak up and tell Nick to get over it. Before he could say anything, Nick squirmed this way and flopped that way and then stretched right out, watching TV with his head right there in Joey’s lap.
Joey stared at him.
He tucked one hand under Joey’s thigh.
Joey rested a hand on Nick’s shoulder.
Nick snickered at a commercial.
The weird vibe had been all in his head?
Nick didn’t care if he fucked AJ or not. Nick didn’t care what he did as long as it didn’t fuck up their pretend relationship.
It kind of was in reality the way they’d explained it to Ashley. Joey could fuck anyone he wanted, as long as their pretense of being together held up.
The same was true for Nick.
He wondered who else Nick was going to fuck. Maybe Nick was going to screw around tomorrow, while he was with Ashley. He wondered what Nick was like with women.
Images spun through Joey’s mind.
A sudden rush of heat suggested that it was time to change the subject.
“We
have eggs,” Trevor reported from the kitchen, checking the refrigerator
contents. “We have butter.”
“Lemons,” Chris called from where he was seated in front of the
computer. “Lemon squares require lemons.”
“We don’t have lemons.”
“One heaping tablespoon of grated lemon rind,” Chris said.
“We couldn’t even get one non-heaping tablespoon,” Trevor said. “We don’t have lemons.”
Chris came into the kitchen and sat on the countertop. “We could buy lemons.”
“We could buy them,” Trevor agreed, leaning beside him. “Or we could make something else.”
Chris frowned at him. “Something else?”
“I saw a box of brownie mix when I was looking for the flour. It’s kind of old, but I don’t think that mix goes bad.”
“Brownies.” Chris fiddled with Trevor’s shirt collar. “There’s no lemon in brownies.”
“But you can cut them into squares,” Trevor said. “So it’s the same thing, only a different flavor.”
Chris fidgeted some more. “I’d rather make brownies than go to sleep.”
“Then let’s do it.” Trevor opened the cabinet.
Slow, sighing, intoxicating kisses. Lance caressed Howie’s cheek with one hand, feeding gently from Howie’s mouth. When Howie rolled them over again, pulling him on top, Lance deepened the kiss, making Howie moan at the stroke of his tongue.
Trevor closed the oven door. “There we go.”
Chris frowned. “That was over way too fast.”
“We still have to wait for them to cook.”
“It should have taken longer. Maybe we should skip the mix next
time and make it all from scratch.”
Trevor was into whatever Chris was into. “You want to try again?”
Chris looked at him. “Really?”
“We can try it. What do we need?”
When Nick volunteered to get drinks, Joey took his hand off of Nick’s shoulder to let him up.
When Nick came back, there was a straw in one of the beer cans.
Nick settled right into his previous place across Joey’s lap, drinking from the
straw.
Joey used his right hand for his drink and the remote control. He
used his left hand to stroke Nick’s hair.
“I can’t believe brownies need such stupid shit,” Chris muttered. “No one has that around the house. Who the hell has unsweetened chocolate just sitting around?”
“What about those?” Trevor asked, pointing. Chris clicked the link. Damn. “I don’t think we have brown sugar.”
Chris tried another link to another recipe.
Trevor read the list of ingredients over his shoulder. “Shortening?”
Turning around in the chair, Chris faced him. “What do you have in this house?”
Trevor shrugged. “Cereal?”
Chris’s eyebrows came together.
Trevor watched Chris think.
Chris’s eyes widened dramatically. “Genius!”
Clean,
dry, Justin got comfortable under the covers, in AJ’s arms. His hands wandered
across AJ’s skin without purpose. “We have to get up early.”
“So you can be all sexy for your big date?” AJ asked. “What flavor
lube are you going to use?”
“Fuck you.” Justin rubbed his chin against AJ’s shoulder. “What
flavor do you think he’d like?”
“I don’t know.” AJ stroked Justin’s hair. “I think you taste pretty good the way you are.”
“You know what Kevin likes.”
“I thought you did, too.”
“Fuck you.” Justin stroked the back of AJ’s
neck while he thought. “Can you help me tomorrow? I don’t mean - - you don’t
have to tell me what Kevin would like, since you’re an ass about it. But could
you help me buy good stuff and look nice and everything? This is really
important to me and I haven’t really had anyone’s help with it, and I’d like
someone pretending to help, for once.”
“Okay.” AJ kissed his shoulder. “I’ll help you look good.”
“Thanks.”
“Cereal, butter, and marshmallows,” Chris said, mixing. “It doesn’t get any simpler than this.”
“Is that much butter good for you?” Trevor asked, holding the bowl for him.
Chris shook his head. “Anything that tastes this good can’t be bad for you.”
Justin’s fingers stroked down the cleft of AJ’s ass. “You fucked Joey today?”
“Yeah.” AJ teased Justin’s nipple.
“He fucked you?”
“Yeah.” AJ kissed Justin’s neck.
“Why can he fuck you if I can’t?”
“One of the sad facts of life.”
Justin’s fingertips ran meditatively up and down AJ’s spine. “I was talking to Ashley, and I started thinking. I wouldn’t mind trying something with him. Making out with him, just as an experiment, to see if I like it.”
“You don’t know if you like making out?”
“I don’t know if I like making out with guys. Guys in general. The only three guys I’ve ever looked at like that, I have serious emotional issues with. I don’t know if I’m bi or just fucked-up or what. But I don’t have an emotional attachment to Ashley or a psychological dependency on him. If I tried it with someone like him, then maybe I could figure out if I’m into guys or not.”
AJ smiled. “You want to fuck him.”
“I don’t want to fuck him.” Justin hesitated, caressing. “I’d do it, though. I’d try it. But I’d rather fuck you.”
“What about Dan? You want to fuck him?”
“No, of course not. He’s Dan.”
AJ snorted. “You want him to fuck you.”
“I used to.” Justin paused. “I still do.”
AJ rubbed the small of Justin’s back. “You want to fuck Kevin?”
“No!” Appalled, Justin almost drew away. “No, I’d never do that. He wouldn’t let me, he doesn’t allow it, and I’d never do anything to Kevin that he didn’t want.”
“You think he’s never let anyone else?” AJ asked.
“I don’t know.” Justin frowned. “That’s none
of my business.”
A chuckle. “You’re damned well trained.”
“I love him.” Justin stroked AJ’s back. “I show love through obedience.”
“Good for you.” AJ caressed him. “You and Ashley? That’s an interesting picture.”
“Don’t get gross.”
“I’d pay to watch it.”
“You’d pay to watch anything. I’m having a sexual identity crisis and you think it’s pay-per-view.”
“You’re not having a crisis. You’re into women. You’re into Kevin. You’re into me. You’re into Dan. One guy is an anomaly. Two guys is strange. Three guys, you’re bi. You’re not even just trying to get head from these guys. You’re giving up your ass.”
“I’ve never given anything to Dan. I give everything to Kevin because I love him. I only give you anything because I have to.”
AJ cupped Justin’s chin in one hand, tilting his head back and looking into his face. “When are you going to admit that you want me?”
Justin pushed his hand aside. “As soon as you’re worth wanting.”
“They’re still too hot,” Trevor said, as Chris cut the brownies.
“Wimp.” Chris broke off a corner and tried it. “Hey, we did a good
job!”
“We did?” Trevor asked, surprised.
“They’re good! Try,” Chris said, holding up another bite.
Trevor sampled. “Mmm. That’s good. I think we did it right.”
“We have a smashing success,” Chris declared, feeding Trevor another
corner. “Congratulations to us.”
Trevor swallowed and grinned. “Congratulations.”
Lance kissed up Howie’s neck, sucking gently, running his fingers over the hair on Howie’s chest.
“You can’t stay,” Howie whispered, stroking his back.
“I’ll leave early,” Lance promised, kissing his mouth. “No one will see me.”
“We can’t risk it.”
“I’d risk anything to be with you,” Lance whispered.
Howie’s eyes were beautiful and undecided. His fingers stroked down the front of Lance’s neck, over his voice box. “No one can see you here.”
“No one will ever know that I was here.” Lance kissed Howie’s sexy, generous mouth. No one would ever know. No one but Lance. No one but Howie. And Lance was going to make sure that Howie’s body never forgot.
They went to the couch together, the two of them, two pans of dessert. At first they were sitting beside each other, eating, and then they were sitting really close to each other, still eating, and then Trevor was on his back against the armrest and Chris was feeding him and kissing him and right on top of him and his dick was getting hard.
God, he was way too into Chris.
After a few minutes of feeding and kissing, Chris nuzzled him and
whispered, “Suck my fingers.” Chris was really close and looking right at him,
and when Chris’s fingers brushed his lips, he licked out a little, hot and
excited inside. Lust flashed across Chris’s eyes, and when he parted his lips
and Chris’s fingers slid in, Chris made a small little sex noise that sounded
exactly the way Trevor felt.
He sucked at Chris’s fingers, licking away chocolate, getting harder
and harder every time Chris’s fingers slid out and pushed back in, moaning every
time Chris whispered his name like they were fucking.
His heart raced with fear.
Water, water, closing in over his head.
He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t breathe.
He couldn’t get out, someone was holding him down, he couldn’t-
Erik jerked awake, heart pounding, breathless from fear.
AJ. The pool.
Shit.
Grateful for air, he got out of bed, walking into the hallway. Damn. Now he was having nightmares about it? Terrific. Just freaking terrific.
He visited the bathroom to take a piss, drank some water, and told himself to go back to bed. Exiting the bathroom, he found Dan in the hallway.
They regarded each other.
“You look like shit,” Erik said.
“Thanks.” Dan rubbed a hand over his face. “So do you.”
He probably did. “Thanks.” Frowning, Erik
noticed something that hadn’t registered until then. “Do I smell brownies?”
“I think Trevor and Chris are downstairs.”
“Baking?” Erik asked, heading for the staircase.
“That’s my first guess,” Dan said, following. “Why are you up?”
“Stupidity. You?”
“Can’t sleep.”
Erik decided not to tell Dan to get over Justin. If Dan could have, he probably would have. Maybe it was too soon; things would look different in another week.
Whoa. Yes, those were brownies, there in that pan on the coffee table. And that was Trevor and Chris, on the sofa, making out and rubbing all over each other like they hadn’t just fucked right upstairs a few hours ago. “Guys?” Erik asked.
“Maybe we should give them some privacy,” Dan suggested.
“If they want privacy, they should be upstairs.”
“Oh, shit,” Trevor said, scandalized.
“Oh, hi.” A little red in the face, Chris raised his head, wiping his mouth with one hand. Apparently he didn’t mind being caught sprawled over Trevor, humping. “Did you need the couch?”
“Never again,” Erik said. “Can we steal some brownies?”
“Go ahead,” Chris said.
“Can you get up?” Trevor whispered, sounding embarrassed.
“No,” Chris said. He kissed Trevor’s mouth, Trevor’s cheek, Trevor’s nose. Then he whispered something that Erik didn’t hear, and by the time that Erik had gathered a few brownies and was ready to go, they were making out again.
“Thanks,” Dan said.
“You’re welcome,” Chris said, still kissing Trevor.
“Get a room,” Erik said, following Dan back upstairs.
Joey turned off the TV.
They got ready for bed, then climbed in.
Rolling onto his side, Joey faced Nick. When Nick kissed him, he kissed back. It was a subtle series of soft kisses, slow, and he wondered if he should just go ahead and do it. If Nick made a move, he could go along with it.
Then Nick pulled back.
Surprised, Joey opened his eyes.
Staying close, an arm draped around Joey’s waist, Nick settled in to sleep.
Nick wasn’t even going to try to fuck him?
Nick was still.
Apparently not.
Unsettled, feeling rejected, Joey watched Nick’s eyes close.
Did Nick think that
he couldn’t get it up again? He’d been with AJ hours ago. He and Nick hadn’t
fucked side-by-side enough for Nick to know everything about him, but Nick had
to realize that he was capable of getting into it more than once a day.
Did Nick not want him? Then why was Nick all over him half of the
time?
He hadn’t been imagining things. There had been a weird vibe. This was just a continuation of it.
He’d liked those kisses. He liked sex with Nick. He didn’t like Nick putting him off like this.
He could tell, from the change in breathing, that Nick was falling asleep.
So he’d fucked AJ; so what? He was more buzzed from that than he’d ever admit to Nick, but he didn’t think that Nick had any right to act stupid about it. Nick couldn’t actually be jealous, and pretending to be resentful was petty and immature. Joey wasn’t about to put up with that. He had enough shit to put up with, coddling Ashley.
Joey had never had trouble distinguishing between what his body did and what his heart felt. Sex was sex. He loved women, he loved sex, he loved having a good time. Sex was fantastic, women were fantastic, but the sex itself didn’t mean anything deeper unless he chose to place importance on it. And, ninety-nine percent of the time, he didn’t.
Occasionally, over the years, he had.
With AJ… With AJ, everything meant something.
He loved AJ, and he’d been given a chance to be with AJ, and he still couldn’t believe how amazing, how hot, how real it had been.
But now he was naked in bed with Nick, and he wanted to mess around. He wasn’t going to let Nick get away with acting weird and denying him sex.
Sliding his hand over Nick’s side, he rubbed his thigh against Nick’s. Not shy about what he wanted, he slipped his hand down over Nick’s stomach and fondled Nick’s dick, stroking it while he kissed the corner of Nick’s mouth.
“What,” kiss, “are,” kiss, “you,” lick, “doing?” Nick asked, reaching down to still his hand but not pushing him away.
“Fucking my boyfriend,” Joey said, pressing closer, getting some good skin-on-skin. “It’s what I do.”
“It’s what you do?” Nick repeated with a grin, cupping the side of his neck and kissing his mouth. “What else do you do?”
Joey kissed his grin. “Try me and find out.”
“Mmm.” Howie rolled away from Lance’s kiss to turn off the lamp, then returned, coming right back into Lance’s embrace. In the darkness, he slid intimately against Lance’s body, leaving a few intoxicating kisses on Lance’s lips before turning and pressing back against Lance, his ass snug to Lance’s groin.
Holding him tightly, Lance dusted the back of his neck with kisses.
A delicious shiver, a sweetly warm moan, and Howie rested his head on Lance’s shoulder. “You shouldn’t just pop up like this. It isn’t safe.”
Lance kissed his nape just to make him shudder again. It was the perfect compensation for the loss of Howie’s longer hair. “You just rewarded me for popping up like this.”
Howie’s hand slid over his forearm. “Is that how you see it?”
“It’s what you made it.” He loved the feel of Howie’s body against his, Howie’s wonderfully smooth skin, Howie’s firm muscle. When he rubbed his hand over Howie’s thigh, feeling the hard muscle and the short hairs against his palm, Howie’s back arched slightly, Howie’s ass grinding subtly against his dick. The unexpected friction made him groan, hips bucking. What the hell was this? Howie had always wanted him, just like he’d always wanted Howie, but when had Howie become this damned insatiable? Howie’s ass was so fucking greedy. God, Lance wanted to give it to him.
“You’re giving me too much credit.” Howie’s voice was hushed in the dark. “I don’t have that much power.”
Lance rested his forehead on Howie’s shoulder, closing his eyes. Breathing Howie in. “You have more power over me than anyone else ever has.”
Howie’s body was a warm, relaxed weight against him. “You gave that power to me. You can take it back.”
All Lance could do in reply to that was laugh.
“All right, never mind.” Turning his head, Howie kissed Lance’s cheek, briefly stroking the other side of his face. “Good night.”
Lance loved Howie so much, he didn’t want to close his eyes and miss a second of this moment. He’d missed Howie. Missed these moments. Missed the familiar contours of Howie’s body, Howie’s masculinity and sexuality. “Good night,” he whispered, his voice soft, deep, his stomach tight.
“Mmm.” Howie sounded sleepy already. “I missed that sound.”
Joey groaned, struggling to keep his urges under control as Nick moved over him, moved in him. His eyes kept trying to roll back in his head on every thrust. Nick’s dick was so powerful, he could practically feel his whole body opening for it. God damn, how did Nick get so damned deep? Moaning, he tugged on Nick’s hair as Nick kissed him. Unable to resist, he chewed gently on Nick’s lips; Nick nibbled back, fucking him slowly, fucking him deep.
AJ pushed Justin away, rolling over and burrowing under the covers. “Fuck off.”
“Kevin might want me today,” Justin said. “We’re going shopping. Get up.”
AJ cursed to himself. “What time is it?”
“Time for me to look good for Kevin. Get up.”
Easing away from Howie’s warm, slumbering body like he was leaving a piece of himself behind, Lance slipped into the bathroom. While he was in there, he brushed his teeth and washed up.
Then he crawled back onto the bed. “Howie,” he murmured, keeping his voice smooth and deep, kissing Howie’s neck and caressing Howie’s back. “Howie.”
Sleepy laughter; Howie rolled over, towards him, eyes barely opening before shutting again as Howie’s arm circled his neck. “Didn’t you get enough last night?”
“I could never get enough,” Lance admitted, kissing his neck, stroking his flesh.
A tempted moan. “You’re supposed to be leaving.”
“I will,” Lance said. He kissed down to Howie’s right nipple, teasing it with his tongue, licking and sucking in just the right way to get Howie to moan and arch for him. “I have to take care of something first.”
“Let me guess,” Howie’s fingers slid through his hair as he switched to lick Howie’s left nipple, “what that something is.”
Hm.
Chris opened his eyes. It looked like morning.
Peeling himself off of Trevor, he got up from the sofa. Shaking out the prickles in his other arm, he checked his watch. Yeah, it was morning.
He didn’t want to go, but what he wanted had ceased to matter a long while ago.
After straightening his clothes and pretending to be able to fix his hair, he crouched down by the couch. He shouldn’t have slept in his clothes; he’d completely ruined Brian’s nice ironing.
“Hey.” He tapped Trevor’s nose. “You.”
Trevor made a sound of denial, but chocolate eyes opened. Right away, Trevor’s fingers trailed down the side of Chris’s face. “I thought we were going upstairs.”
“We got sidetracked for the sixteenth time.” Chris caught his hand. “I have to go.”
Trevor squeezed his fingers. “Okay. Call me later?”
Such trust. Chris kissed him. “Be a good boy. Listen to Dan.”
Trevor kissed him back. “Bye.”
“We’ll pick up breakfast on the way,” Justin called, pulling on socks.
“Fantastic,” AJ muttered from the bathroom.
“I think I should get clothes first, shoes second. I called Delay’s, they’re expecting us.” Sneakers on, Justin got up to find out what was taking AJ so long. “What the - - eyeliner? You’re wasting my time with eyeliner?”
“I’m going out in public,” AJ said, snatching it back when Justin snatched it from him. “Do you want me to-”
“I want you to get your ass in gear,” Justin said. “We’re power shopping. I know you can keep up, so let’s go.”
“Let me just-”
“Trust me, your eyes are the last thing you need to worry about looking good.” Justin grabbed his wrist and towed him from the bathroom. “Let’s get going. If you’re that worried about it, you can wear your damned sunglasses all day. I’ll even buy you a nice new pair.”
“Wait.” AJ dug his heels in until Justin
stopped and turned to him. “Are you wearing underwear?”
“No,” Justin said impatiently.
“Aren’t you going to try anything on?”
Oh. “Shit,” Justin said, reaching for his fly. “I could just buy
it without trying it on first.”
“You’re shopping for clothes to look good for Kevin,” AJ said. “If he’s interested in anything, it’s your ass. You don’t want to risk buying something that doesn’t highlight the goods.”
“You think I should get something tight?” Justin asked, digging around for a pair of underwear.
“What did you look like when Kevin first came sniffing around?” AJ asked. “Younger. Prettier. You were that sexy little thing on top of the world. Go back to that.”
Justin rubbed a hand over his hair, frowning. If-
“Get over it,” AJ said, pulling his hand down. “Get your drawers on and let’s go. We have work to do.”
It was too early to be up, but Trevor was awake, so, what the hell. Turning on the TV, he took the last brownie from the pan.
Hmm. Still good.
He licked chocolate crumbs from his fingers. Experimentation proved that finger-sucking was a lot hotter when Chris was involved.
“Not those.” AJ tossed the jeans back onto the shelf.
Justin took them back. “Can you let me try them on first?”
“Don’t need to. They’re too loose.”
Justin almost rolled his eyes. “How do you know they’re too loose
if I haven’t put them on yet?”
“I checked the size tag, I checked out your complete lack of ass, I
know they’re too loose.” AJ dropped another pair on top of the stack in
Justin’s arms. “Try these.”
Entering his driveway, Chris braked too hard. Staring in shock, he worried that he’d wandered into the wrong reality again.
Brian’s car was in his driveway.
Parking carefully, Chris got out. He circled Brian’s car a few times, studying it from all angles.
Brian wasn’t in it.
Which meant that…
Brian was in his house?
Brian. In his house. Brian. In his house. His heart racing, Chris approached the front door.
Brian might be inside.
Brian might not be inside.
But Brian might be inside.
He double-checked. It looked like his house. He might be confused, but he was pretty sure that this was his house. He remembered his house looking like this.
His key fit the lock.
Brian hadn’t been in his house since Lance had brought Brian over and Brian had apologized.
He wondered why Brian was here now.
Entering the house, he walked from one room to the next. He looked through each room carefully, seeking signs of visitation. Had Brian been in the kitchen? Had Brian been in the living room? Had Brian been in the hallway?
His heartbeat skipping and tripping, Chris wiped sweat from his face with one hand, sneaking from room to room. Maybe Brian wasn’t even in the house. Maybe.
He wanted Brian to be there. Home with him.
It was early. Maybe Brian had come over for breakfast?
Maybe Brian had just left a car in his driveway for…safekeeping.
He’d been at the Townhouse and Brian had been at his house! How could he have missed-
Chris’s heart lurched into his throat.
“Oh,” he breathed, suddenly weak in the knees. So perfect, so real, so beautiful. Brian was in his house. In his bedroom. In his bed. Under the covers. Asleep.
His hair was tousled.
He had on a white T-shirt.
His sneakers, socks, jeans, and shirt were piled together on the floor. The shirt was Justin’s; Chris had wanted to ask him about that earlier. Maybe Chris could ask now. He’d called Justin on the drive home but Justin hadn’t answered.
Brian was asleep in his bed.
Chris was afraid to wake him. Afraid to disturb the perfection of the moment. Everything was suddenly too, too wonderful; but it was a fragile perfection. Chris knew that too well. He didn’t dare shatter it.
But Brian was in his bed. Sleeping in his bed. He wanted to be in there, too. Could he?
How long had Brian been here?
Had Brian come last night to be with him, while he’d been away?
Brian had been here, in his home, coming to his bed, and he’d almost missed it!
He should have been here! He should have been at home, waiting!
Brian. Brian in his bed. Brian’s real and true body right there on his sheets. Brian’s head on his pillow.
He wanted his bed to smell like Brian.
Oh!
Tearing himself away from the sight of perfection for just a second, he snuck a necklace from his secret stash of gifts for Brian and slipped it into the pocket of Brian’s jeans. It was a cross - - in the style Brian liked, but a little fancier than the one Brian had been wearing lately, which was also a gift from him, from…before.
The rustle of bedsheets immediately drew his attention; he pivoted to see Brian roll over. “You’re home,” Brian said sleepily, eyes half-open.
“I’m so sorry,” Chris said, rushing to his side. “I’m sorry that I wasn’t here, I should have-”
“It’s okay.” Brian yawned. “Come to bed.”
Stripping quickly to his underwear, Chris hurried around to the other side of the bed, crawling in beside Brian. He wriggled in close to Brian, not touching yet. “I can’t believe you’re here.” Brian in his bed. “When I came home and I saw your car in the driveway, I got so excited. I’m so glad that you’re here, I’m so excited, I wish you could stay.” He wanted to keep Brian forever. “I wish you could stay.”
Brian’s eyes were sleepy and affectionate. “I wish I could, too.” A sexy little yawn. Chris loved it when Brian’s nostrils flared like that. “Sleep with me for a while.”
“Okay,” he said immediately. Absolutely. Brian in his bed, with him? It was something to be treasured, to be cherished.
Brian’s eyes closed.
Brian was falling asleep.
Brian was wearing his shirt. That was his white undershirt. He recognized the loose threads around the collar. His shirt. Brian in his shirt. Brian in his bed.
He’d almost missed this.
He might have missed this. He’d already missed Brian arriving, Brian coming into his house, Brian undressing, Brian finding his shirt, Brian getting into bed - - what if he’d missed this part, too? What if he’d missed everything? He might have come home so late Brian would already have been gone. He might never have known that Brian had come to see him.
He didn’t know how Brian had gained entry to his home. It didn’t matter.
Carefully, very carefully, he kissed Brian’s temple. “I love you.” He smoothed the tousled waves of Brian’s hair.
His hand shook.