With This Ring Read online

  “You’re the naked one,” Matt pointed out. “Obviously, you have something in mind.”

  Their lips met in a velvet crush, and Matt ran both arms around his lover’s neck, pulling him close. The press of their bodies ignited his blood. He leaned into Vic heavily, hungry for more than just mere kisses. Into Vic’s mind, Matt projected one thought. ::I’ve been waiting forever.::

  ::Seven days,:: Vic replied.

  His hands roamed down Matt’s back, into his sweat pants, and over his ass to cup his buttocks. The fleece-lined fabric was pushed out of the way as Vic rubbed Matt’s firm cheeks. Their kiss deepened; Vic’s tongue laid claim to Matt, demanding in its insistence, and Matt gave into the moment, the man. With a shake of his hips, his sweat pants dropped to mid-thigh, then to his knees. His unsheathed cock pressed against Vic’s own with a sweet ache, twin erections caught between hard bodies, throbbing for release.

  When the sweat pants drooped lower, Matt raised one leg to step out of them; Vic caught it and held it against his side. Matt moaned into Vic, growing desperate in his need, spurred on by the sensation of his lover’s bare flesh against his inner thigh, the hand holding his knee aloft, the aura of safety and love that enveloped him. ::I want you,:: he told Vic. ::I want in you, now.::

  Vic chuckled against Matt’s mouth, then kissed his way down his lover’s throat to suckle his neck.

  “Now,” Matt sighed, pressing as much of his body as he could to Vic’s. “Right now. I’m serious.”

  “I like you like this,” Vic admitted. His breath tickled the hollow of Matt’s throat. “So needy. So mine. We should wait more often.”

  Clinging to Vic, Matt wrapped his leg around his lover’s waist, then raised the other to latch onto Vic’s hip, until he sat in the palms that kneaded his buttocks. He caught Vic’s face between his hands and touched his forehead to his lover’s to stare deep into his eyes. Though the rest of the world swam away drunkenly, those bright blue orbs were fixed and focused… on him. Right where they belonged. “I want you now.”

  Vic gave him one last kiss, then carried him from the kitchen to the bedroom. The lamp on Vic’s bedside table cast a golden glow that held back the shadows in the darkened room. Gently, Matt found himself lowered to the bed, where the covers were already turned down. So Vic had been busy when he’d gone to the bathroom. Kicking off his sweat pants completely, Matt crawled under the covers, then moved over to make room for his lover. “Right here, sexy,” he said, patting the cool sheet beside him. “Let me have a piece of you.”

  His lover needed no further prompting. He lay down beside Matt and, for a moment, they simply stared at each other, Vic’s face draped in shadow as Matt blocked out the light. He felt a firm presence caress his mind—Vic, probably searching for some remnant of Jordan, but there was only one man in Matt’s thoughts. Satisfied, Vic grabbed the front of Matt’s shirt and pulled him down for a long, ardent kiss.

  Without protest, Matt let Vic lay him back against the pillows, and Vic straddled him, his weight welcome. Tugging off Matt’s shirt, Vic tossed it aside, then lay down over his lover to continue their kisses. ::Vic, please,:: Matt pleaded, gripping Vic’s knees in both hands. ::I need you.::

  His eyes slipped shut. The sensations of being loved flooded him—the kisses seemed ethereal, the body on his dreamlike and vague. The wine was catching up with him now, one bottle—two?—sloshing through his system and dulling his mind. He felt warm and safe and comforted, and he wanted nothing more than to lie forever in his lover’s embrace. As if from miles away, he felt a cool gel trickle over the head of his dick, then firm hands encircled his shaft and worked the gel along his length. It warmed beneath the touch.

  “Don’t you dare fall out on me here, Matty,” Vic growled, his hands massaging Matt’s cock and balls.

  Each stroke was like the insistent pull of a magnet, drawing Matt up out of his drowsy state to a place where his blood sang and his body cried out for release. Matt clawed at Vic’s knees, his hips rising off the bed to thrust into Vic’s slick hands. He felt as if he were already asleep and this was just an orgasmic wet dream, his lover above him, positioning himself over Matt’s hard cock, then the tight heat of his buttocks as he sat down to take Matt in.

  Matt gasped, his mind crying out in pleasure as Vic’s muscles clenched around his thick dick. ::Yes.::

  In this position, Vic did all the work. He moved above Matt like a god, sliding along Matt’s cock as he kissed the very breath from Matt’s lips. The most Matt had to do was hang on—he embraced his lover, held him tight, and thrust into him with a slow, steady rhythm that only enhanced the dreaminess of the moment. ::Yes,:: he thought, the words passing between them as if they were spoken out loud. ::Yes. God, Vic. Yes, yes!::

  When Vic sensed Matt’s impending orgasm, he sat back, placing himself firmly on his lover’s crotch to take in Matt’s full length. Then Vic moved his hips in a circular fashion, grinding his buttocks into Matt’s groin as he stroked his own cock. Matt thrust off the bed, driving into Vic, moaning with delight. “God!” he cried out, pushing in harder, deeper, until he came in a heated rush that left him drained and spent.

  His lover climaxed in a hot splash of cum that cooled on Matt’s lower belly. He felt a gentle hand wipe his stomach clean, then Vic lay beside him again, careful not to let Matt’s wilted cock slip from him just yet. Strong arms enveloped him, drew him close.

  Burying his face in Vic’s smooth chest, Matt let the faint sound of his lover’s heartbeat lull him to sleep.

  Chapter 3

  The holidays were over all too soon, and before Vic knew it, he had to get back to work. On the second of January, he woke to a gentle kiss as his lover’s thoughts brushed over his still-sleeping mind. ::See you tonight.::

  Vic murmured in assent. A warm hand rubbed his shoulder through the comforter that covered his nude body, the touch sealing the promise in those words. Tonight…

  With a jolt, Vic opened his eyes, awake. Matt sat on the edge of the bed, fully dressed, a faint smile on his face that Vic could just barely discern in the dim room. Diffused silver light glowed like a nimbus around the edges of the closed curtains, not quite reaching the bed. Random images flickered through Vic’s stagnant brain, trying to find something to connect with, something to explain the urgency that swirled through his veins. Matt, leaving for work. Early morning. A newspaper, a phone.

  The tabloid.

  Picking up on Vic’s discomfort, Matt gave his shoulder a playful squeeze. “What is it?”

  Vic shook his head, trying to clear it, but he had never been the most alert person upon waking. It usually took him an hour or so to get his bearings together and get on with his day. But that damn tabloid had printed Matt’s name, and Vic had promised… “I’m taking you to work.”

  Matt’s smile widened. “Vic, please. You’re not even dressed.”

  “My robe,” Vic answered, as if that settled it.

  But Matt eased him back to the bed, and planted a quick kiss on the top of his bald head. “I’ll be fine,” he assured Vic. “It’s been what, two days? Three? And how long was that paper in the store before we saw it? No one’s called here looking for me.”

  When his head touched the pillow, Vic felt the morning creep up on him and his whole body felt too weary to face the day. “Phone’s in my name,” he muttered. “Lease is, too. But the gym—”

  “I’ll be fine,” Matt said again. “Roxie’s fielding my calls, remember? She’s harder to get around than the Secret Service, I swear.”

  “Hmm.” Vic struggled to open his eyes, but the sheets were so warm around him, Matt’s voice so comforting and low, his hand on Vic’s chest soothing. It was hard to get riled up at the moment. Easing a hand out from beneath the covers, he touched Matt’s knee; instantly, his lover grasped that hand in his own, twining his fingers with Vic’s to raise it to his lips for a kiss. The damp imprint of his mouth cooled on Vic’s skin. With a hitching breath, Vic sighed, “Roxie.”

&n
bsp; Whatever else Vic planned to say was lost as his mind slipped back down into the confusing murk of his dreaming mind. He heard Matt chuckle as he kissed him again, and felt more than heard his lover whisper, “She likes you, you know?”

  ::She likes you,:: Vic corrected, his mouth too relaxed to form the words that spoke directly into his lover’s mind. ::If we weren’t together, you’d probably have to fend her off every day.::

  Matt laughed. “You know,” he teased, leaning down over Vic to kiss his slack cheek, “I bet if we asked her to join us, like in a threesome, she’d do it.”

  That woke Vic up. His eyelids flew open again, widened in horror. His heart practically stopped in his chest. Was Matt serious? Did he really want someone else between them? Someone like her?

  But the gleam in his lover’s eyes told Vic he was only kidding.

  “Oh jeez, the look on your face,” Matt said with a grin. “You didn’t really think—”

  “Don’t do that to me,” Vic growled. Relief coursed through him, so poignant it made him want to grasp Matty in a fierce hug and never let go. “Don’t even joke about it. God, it’s too damn early for that shit.”

  Matt laughed again as he nuzzled against Vic’s neck. “There’s my gruff grizzly. What do you have planned for today, papa bear?”

  Vic let Matt’s kisses placate him, and slowly his heart began to beat again. Making an effort to sit up, Vic said, “Taking you to work.”

  “Oh, hush.” With his hands firm on Vic’s shoulders, Matt pinned him down to the bed. “How about this? I’ll call you the minute I park the car, all right? You can keep me on the phone until I go inside. How’s that sound?”

  To Vic, it didn’t sound very reassuring. “If something happens—”

  “Nothing will happen,” Matt assured him. “Who reads that stupid tabloid anyway? No one’s going to buy it if it doesn’t have Britney Spears on the cover, and you know it. I’ll be fine.”

  Grudgingly, Vic let Matt kiss away his protests. “I’ll call you when I pull into the parking lot,” Matt promised. “Question is, will you be up?”

  The press of his lover’s body above his did delicious things to Vic’s libido, and he shifted his legs to allow Matt to feel the thickness of his cock through the covers. Running a hand down Vic’s body, Matt gripped the budding erection beneath the sheets. “Up, yes. But awake?”

  “I will be,” Vic promised.

  Matt kissed the tip of his nose. “Then let me get to work. And save this”—his hand closed around Vic’s hardening shaft—”for later.”

  * * * *

  After Matt left, Vic couldn’t get back to sleep. Strange energy zinged through his muscles, jarring his mind awake. He felt more alive than he had the past few days, on edge for some reason, alert. As if his consciousness had been cloudy for a while and all of a sudden, the sun had appeared, chasing the grey away. Colors were more vivid, light seemed brighter, and even shadows took on a depth he hadn’t noticed before. When he pushed himself up out of bed, his whole body tingled, and he was surprised there were no flashing arcs of electrical power coursing over his super-sensitive skin. He felt…

  Well, to be honest, he felt recharged.

  A week without sex didn’t diminish Vic’s powers much—or rather, those powers he took for granted now, the super strength, the telepathy, and the mental bond he shared with Matt. Oh, he had felt them dull a bit, particularly the strength, which seemed to sap more of his own energy whenever he used it. Carrying Matt to the bedroom on New Year’s Eve had used a fair amount of the power, but he was a strong guy to begin with and his own libido had fueled him on at the time. Plus, he’d been loving Matt for so long now, it seemed he had a surfeit of his “standard” powers stored away, and seven days of abstinence did little to deplete them.

  But he would be lying if he said the sex hadn’t given him a much needed boost. Immediately after Matt came in him, Vic felt the powers surge through his body, and it took every ounce of conscious thought to lay down beside his lover, hold him close, and force himself to drift off to sleep. With Matt’s super-powered seed coursing through him, Vic wanted to cry out to the heavens in triumph; he wanted to do back-flips and handstands, somersaults, cartwheels. Suddenly he wanted to race off in every direction at once, and he felt as if his pounding heart and racing mind were already way ahead of him. His blood sizzled, his thoughts churned. It had taken hours to fall asleep, and then it was only out of pure exhaustion.

  Was that boost of power normal for him? He didn’t know—he had never gone more than a day or two without making love to Matt. A week’s wait had been the longest time they spent apart. A day or two more and Vic suspected he may have had a heart attack when he finally got a jolt from Matt’s juice.

  Even two days after the deed, he still felt fully loaded. Normally he would drag his ass out of bed, moan and groan through the first hour of his day, then perk up slightly after a quick shower before he had to head into work. But this morning, after Matt left, Vic practically jumped out of bed. His skin seemed to crawl with nervous anticipation, and he couldn’t keep his feet on the ground—each step had a bounce to it that threatened to send him skyward if he didn’t pay attention. It was like the powers were new to him, and he had to get used to them all over again. In the bathroom, he yanked his robe off the hook behind the door and winced at the squeal of the hinge beneath the force of his tug. In the kitchen, he broke the first coffee cup he grabbed—it just shattered in his hand, he hadn’t even been holding it that hard.

  By the time Matt called from the gym, Vic didn’t trust himself to hold his cell to his ear without destroying the phone, so he put it on speaker and set it on the side of the sink as he shaved. “You in the bathroom?” Matt asked in lieu of hello.

  “Why do you ask that?” Vic countered. “You at work yet?”

  Matt told him, “I hear an echo. And water sloshing around. Am I on speaker?”

  “I’m shaving.” Swishing his razor in the sink full of water, Vic shook the lather off and turned his head to get a better look at a hard-to-reach spot behind his left ear. “Are you at the gym?”

  “Getting out of the car now.”

  Through the tinny connection, Vic could hear traffic in the background, and the tell-tale squeal of the city bus’s air brakes. Which meant Matt had parked in the staff lot at the gym, which was near the bus stop. As Vic concentrated on his shaving, using very faint strokes of the razor to keep from nicking himself, Matt assured him there was nothing to worry about. “No paparazzi out this early,” he said. His sneakers crunched on the gravel that lined the lot. “All I see is some girl at the bus stop in a McDonald’s outfit.”

  “You be careful,” Vic admonished.

  Matt laughed. “She’s small. I think I can take her if I have to. Hey, look who’s late. Happy new year, Roxie.”

  Very faintly, Vic could hear a woman through the phone, her tone familiar, sharp. “I’m not late. Who’s on the phone?” Before Matt could answer, Roxie raised her voice to call out, “Hi Vic! Happy new year!”

  “What,” Matt teased, “you say it to him but not me?” Into the phone, he added, “I told you she had the hots for you. Ow! Don’t hit me, woman!”

  Rinsing off his razor again, Vic smiled at his reflection in the mirror above the sink. “Don’t piss her off,” he warned Matt. “She’s taking your calls, remember?”

  Matt made a discontented noise in the back of his throat. “I remember. Listen, you have a good day, you hear me? I love you.”

  In the background, Roxie said, “Awww! I wuv you, too, Vic.”

  Lowering his voice, Matt muttered, “Told you.”

  “She’s just jerking your chain,” Vic admonished. At least, he hoped she was. Leaning down close to the phone, he said softly, “I love you. See you tonight.”

  * * * *

  With his body in overdrive, Vic was ready to go well before he had to leave for work. He toyed with the idea of stopping by the gym, maybe work off some of the excess energy, b
ut until management ordered another set of weights, he didn’t think a mere thousand pounds would make a dent in his powers today. Besides, the extra abilities were burning through his body’s metabolism—he’d had his usual two bagels and coffee for breakfast, but by ten o’clock, he felt ravenous. His stomach rumbled like thunder, and his hands shook from the lack of blood sugar in his system. He felt like a junky coming down off a high, craving sustenance. He needed food to fuel these damn superpowers—a lot of it, fast.

  At least there was still plenty of time to grab something to eat before he had to clock in.

  Already dressed in his uniform for work, Vic shouldered into a heavy coat to ward off the winter chill and sat in his car as it idled at the curb, warming up. Shivering helped expend some of the energy—within minutes, the car’s interior was toasty, almost hot, and the windows had begun to fog over from the body heat Vic gave off. He had to turn on the defrost before he could put the car into gear, and wipe at the windshield to clear it whenever he stopped at a red light.

  He headed downtown to Joe’s Deli, a New York style grease pit with loud cooks in dirty aprons who shouted over the sound of spatulas slapping the grill and only the best cheesesteaks south of the Mason-Dixon line. Vic had found the place quite by accident, years ago—then it had been called “Hoagie Joe’s,” but the owner complained no one in Richmond knew what a hoagie was, so he changed the name. They sold foot-long subs overflowing with grilled meat and onions, and sandwiches piled twelve inches high. Everything came wrapped in wax paper and served with a bag of homemade kettle cooked chips. Despite the early hour, Vic had a craving for a hot pastrami, so thick he wouldn’t be able to open his mouth wide enough to take it in. His stomach growled appreciatively at the thought.

  Joe’s was on Broad Street, the busy thoroughfare that ran through the heart of the city. Downtown, parking was limited, but at least it wasn’t rush hour—Vic found a spot on the street directly across from the deli. Locking his car, he took a quick glance to the left to make sure there were no cars barreling down toward him, then jogged over three lanes to the median.