With This Ring Read online

  His only response was, ::You figure it out.::

  Apparently Vic didn’t recall what had happened earlier in the day—as they ate, he fell into a brooding silence, glancing up at Matt every couple seconds as if to ensure himself his lover were still there. At Matt’s announcement, he set his fork down and sat back in his chair, chewing thoughtfully. When it became obvious Matt didn’t plan to elaborate, Vic asked, “Phone call? From who?”

  Matt twirled his fork in his spaghetti noodles and shrugged. “Head of research down at Armour Labs. In Chester? They make—”

  “I know what they make.”

  Irritation flared in Matt at the tone of his lover’s voice. Pressing his lips together, Matt bit back an angry remark and told himself again that Vic must’ve had a good reason for not telling him about the incident with the car. Damned if he knew what it was, though. They didn’t usually keep secrets.

  Vic saw Matt’s mouth twist and sighed. In a softer voice, he asked, “So what did they want?”

  Before Matt could answer, Vic’s mind reached out for his. It was an unexpected move that caught Matt off-guard. His lover’s eyes narrowed when he heard the caller’s name echo within Matt’s thoughts, then Matt threw down his defenses to shut him out. Vic jerked back in his chair as if slapped. “Let me tell you my way, will you?” Matt snapped. “Don’t go rooting through my head. Listen to me.”

  “Matty,” Vic murmured, “I didn’t mean—”

  In a mocking, sing-song voice, Matt chimed, “I didn’t mean to hurt you.” He threw his fork down and pushed away from the table, too upset to eat. “That’s your standard excuse, Vic. I’m sick of hearing it.”

  Emotions warred across his lover’s face and raged through his mind, battling each other loud enough for Matt to pick up even with his mind on lock-down. Crossing his arms, he waited for Vic to yell at him—he wanted it, needed it. Maybe then they could talk things out between them and move on. But instead of lashing out, Vic reined in his thoughts and took a deep, steadying breath. When he spoke, his voice was deceptively low. “Do you want to tell me what the hell this is all about?”

  The fact that Vic had no clue pissed Matt off. “I’ll tell you,” he said, his voice rising in anger. “I get a phone call today at work, right? Just as I’m leaving. Some doctor so-and-so who found my name in that goddamn tabloid and decided to ferret me out.”

  A look of pain flashed across Vic’s face, and he shut his eyes in a defeated gesture. “Matty—”

  With a shake of his head, Matt continued. He was too wound up to stop now. “He tells me he’s seen this before, back in his own country. Someone in his family somewhere had the same shitty ability, and his wife was stoned when the villagers thought she was a witch. He knows what I’m going through, and he says he’s found a way to help me. To stop it.”

  Vic sighed, a heavy sound that almost broke through Matt’s defenses. “And you believe him? Some guy from a…a condom factory? Matt—”

  “I almost hung up,” Matt conceded. “Just slammed the phone down on his ass, said the hell with it. Then he asks me about you.”

  That perked Vic up. “Me?”

  Matt waited. Slowly, it dawned on Vic—his eyes widened and his mouth dropped open in realization. “Oh, shit,” he whispered. “Matty, I meant—”

  “Must be nice,” Matt said in a pissy voice, interrupting him, “to be able to forget you ripped off the goddamn doors from a speeding vehicle this morning. I mean, hell, when it happens every day, it just becomes commonplace, doesn’t it? Like brushing your teeth or jerking off.”

  Vic reached across the table for him, his mind stretching out for Matt’s, but his lover shrugged both touches away. “Matt, I’m sorry—”

  “There’s a video on YouTube, Vic.” Matt stared at him, watching the horror of his words sink in. “Do you have any idea how frightening it is to click on a link in an e-mail and see your lover just about run over by a drunk driver?”

  “Please.” Vic held his hand out on the table, palm up, stretched toward him, but Matt ignored it. “Listen to me, will you? Yes, you’re right, I should’ve told you, and I’m sorry I didn’t. I guess I sort of—”

  “Forgot?”

  With a heart-rending sigh, Vic murmured, “Matty, I’m sorry.”

  For a long moment, Matt stared at his lover, whose blue eyes looked so dark, so sad and contrite. It wasn’t Vic’s fault, he realized. This warm, loving, sexy man across from him wasn’t to blame for the situation that morning or the constant danger he found himself in or even for Matt’s pissy attitude at what had happened. It wasn’t his fault.

  It’s mine.

  Suddenly, his anger was gone. Not so much deflated as popped; it dispersed in an instant, leaving him shaky and tired in its wake. “Vic,” he sighed.

  Pushing back his chair, he rose and skirted the table to stand by his lover’s side. With trembling hands, he touched the top of Vic’s bald head to feel the smooth, heated skin, then hugged Vic to him. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered, his hands cradling his lover’s head against his stomach.

  Vic’s arms wrapped around Matt’s waist in a fierce embrace. Sinking down to squat beside Vic’s chair, Matt took Vic’s face in both hands and leaned forward to press their foreheads together. “I’m sorry,” he said again, blinking back hot tears. “It’s my fault, Vic. It’s all my fault, and I don’t mean to take it out on you. It’s me putting you in danger every day. It’s me doing this, messing up us, and I hate it. I hate it.”

  “No,” Vic assured him. His strong hands rubbed Matt’s back and shoulders. “No, Matty, it’s not you. Don’t say that. Don’t think it.”

  But Matt shook his head. “Me and these stupid powers. If I lose you, Vic. If you…if you die—”

  Vic covered Matt’s mouth with his, silencing him. Gently, he sent out an exploratory thought to Matt’s closed mind. ::Don’t say that, love.::

  Love. At the term of endearment, so heart-felt, so real, Matt surrendered himself to Vic. Like a dam breaking, Matt relaxed his mental defenses and flooded Vic’s thoughts with his own. Their kiss deepened, their embrace becoming passionate, as their minds and hearts and souls melded together into one.

  * * * *

  Some time later, Vic stood and helped Matt to his feet. Leaving the dinner plates on the table, they retreated to the living room, where Vic sank down to sit in his recliner. Once situated, he guided Matt down onto his lap and held him close. Matt rested his head on Vic’s shoulder, content. When Vic turned toward him, Matt’s lips found his in a sweet, tender kiss that lingered between them.

  When they finally parted, Matt kept his face near Vic’s, unwilling to put too much distance between them. He hated himself for his earlier outburst and the feelings he’d harbored all evening and the way he’d been quick to blame his lover for things beyond his control. His heart ached to see Vic staring at him so intently, a remnant of his earlier sadness still clouding his features. “I’m sorry,” he whispered against Matt’s temple. “I should’ve remembered to tell you about the thing with the car the moment I walked in the door.”

  Matt pressed a finger to Vic’s lips to quiet him. Vic puckered up, kissing the tip of Matt’s forefinger, which brought a smile to Matt’s face. “You should’ve called me when it happened.”

  Silently, Vic told him, ::I didn’t want you to worry.::

  Matt laughed. “As if I don’t already.”

  Opening his mouth, Vic closed his lips around Matt’s finger in a playful bite. “So,” he said around Matt’s forefinger, “tell me about this doctor who called you.”

  With a shrug, Matt settled himself against his lover’s body and sighed. As he spoke, he felt Vic’s thoughts ease into his—he didn’t stop them this time. The touch was comforting, familiar, and made Matt feel safe and warm. “He said he’s seen my condition before.”

  That had been the hardest part of their conversation for Matt to believe…and the one thing Dr. Channarayapatra said that Matt needed to hear. The fact t
hat he wasn’t some fucked up fluke, that others suffered as he had; it meant more to him than Matt had thought possible, and he had to struggle to control his elation at the news. He wasn’t a freak. He wasn’t alone.

  “Call me Dr. Veej,” the caller had said when Matt stumbled over the pronunciation of his last name. “Back in my village, long time ago, there was a man like you, Mr. diLorenzo. His first wife, she had phenomenal strength. It was sort of a joke, this average Joe as you’d call him, married to a Wonder Woman. But the other women in the village, they weren’t too fond of her. She was a beautiful girl, and you know how other wives gossip. Ugly rumors started, egged on by the strange powers she seemed to possess. The man kept quiet. If he even knew it was his fault, I don’t know. But things got out of hand and the woman was eventually stoned as a witch.”

  Matt heard the doctor’s words again as Vic listened to them inside his head. Aloud, Matt told him, “Dr. Veej said the man remarried and passed the powers on to his son. Who is now engaged to the doctor’s youngest sister. He wanted to find a way to inhibit the powers, as a wedding gift to her. He said it took him a few years, but he finally figured it out.”

  Vic gave a disparaging grunt that made Matt grin. “I know what you’re thinking,” he murmured, planting a kiss on Vic’s cheek. “But I told him upfront we don’t use condoms.”

  “You told him that?” Vic asked, surprised. “Matty—”

  Matt hurried to explain. “He said this was something that wouldn’t interfere with our love. Something so small we wouldn’t even notice it during sex.” At Vic’s frown, he added, “I agreed to meet him on Saturday. I want you to come along.”

  Holding up a hand, Vic admitted, “This is all so sudden. You don’t even know him—”

  “You’ll be there with me,” Matt said, as if that settled things. “You always say it isn’t the powers that make you love me.”

  A hot blush of anger colored Vic’s cheeks. “It’s not, and you know it. I loved you before I even knew about them.”

  With a sigh, Matt said, “I just want us to be normal. Is that asking too much? I want to be with you forever, and I’m afraid that one day, I’ll give you some power that will put an end to that. To us.” He wrapped his arms around Vic’s neck and hugged him tight. “If this guy has a solution, I can’t ignore it. I won’t. But I want this to be something we both decide.”

  “They’re your powers,” Vic told him. Matt felt his lover’s distrust boil just beneath the surface of his emotions, but for now, Vic kept it in check. “If you want to get rid of them, Matty, I’m all for it. I only want to make you happy.”

  Against Vic’s neck, Matt breathed, “Will you come with me Saturday then? Just to meet the man, hear him out? We can always change our minds.”

  The corner of Vic’s mouth twitched in resignation. “Sounds to me like you’ve already made yours up.”

  “I’m just saying…”

  Vic rubbed his shoulder, then pulled him closer. “Just don’t get too excited, Matty. That’s all I’m saying. This might turn out to be nothing more than some cruel hoax.”

  Matt whispered, “I know.”

  Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling it was more than that. It had to be.

  Chapter 5

  As a rule, Vic didn’t trust people. Someone who tracked another man down through an article, the same way Jordan had found Matt, made Vic suspicious. This Doctor Whatever-his-name-was had to have an ulterior motive, Vic was sure of it.

  But because the thought of being free from the powers made Matt so damn happy, Vic kept his concerns about the matter to himself.

  It wasn’t hard to do—yes, Matt could read his mind with ease, and frequently picked over Vic’s thoughts when they lay quietly together in the darkness of their bedroom. Most of the time, Vic didn’t want to hide anything from his lover—Matt knew things about him that even Vic had trouble remembering, things from his childhood growing up with a criminal father and alcoholic mother that Vic had forced himself to forget. But Matt also knew Vic’s doubts about the doctor’s sincerity, and whenever he glanced over those thoughts in his lover’s mind, he quickly turned away. And Vic didn’t push it. Though he didn’t want Matt to get his hopes up too much, though he knew Matt would only end up hurt in the end, he didn’t want to be the one to bring him crashing back down to the reality that they were probably cursed with these powers for the rest of their lives together.

  Which, like Matt, Vic hoped would be a very long time.

  So he thought it little good to argue with Matt. Saturday would arrive soon enough—that damn doctor was the one who’d started this shit; let him be the one to burst Matt’s bubble. Then Vic would be there to pick up the pieces and kick the fucker’s ass for messing with his lover.

  And he would be there, standing beside Matt when they met this doctor and heard what he had to say. Secretly, Vic was looking forward to that little get-together. He knew the guy probably thought Matt would be alone…and what did he have in mind? Did he hope to seduce Matt? Or take him by force?

  He didn’t know, but thinking about the look on the doctor’s face when he saw Vic’s muscled bulk made Vic grin in anticipation. He and Matt were both looking forward to Saturday, but for very different reasons.

  * * * *

  Thursday evening, after a long day at work, Vic came home to find a large meal waiting for him. Matt massaged away the tension in Vic’s neck and shoulders as he ate. “You’re so tight.”

  With a grin, Vic teased, “I’ve got something tighter, if you’re interested.”

  Matt’s hands paused on his shoulders, then squeezed once. There was a hopeful lilt to his voice when he asked, “You aren’t too tired?”

  “For you?” Vic asked. “Never. Let me finish eating first, and maybe take a shower, then if you’re still up for something…”

  Warm arms encircled his shoulders, hugging him back against his lover, and Matt kissed Vic’s ear with a wet smack. “Oh, I’m up,” he promised. “Chew faster. I can’t wait.”

  When his plate was clean, Vic stretched as he stood. Matt began clearing the table. “That’s my job,” Vic told him.

  But Matt shook his head. “You worked all day. Hop in the shower already, will you?” The kiss he gave Vic lingered on his lips long after Matt moved away. “Time’s a-wasting. Meet me in the bedroom in fifteen minutes or else.”

  “Or else what?”

  Over his shoulder, Matt gave Vic a salacious wink. “Or else I’ll join you in the bathroom. I’m getting you either way.”

  Vic took a quick shower, soaping his body and rinsing off in less than five minutes. It had to be a record for him—usually he took his time, lathering his skin then shaving away soap and hair from his scalp, his armpits, his crotch. He loved the feel of his own skin freshly shaved, smooth as a baby’s bottom, pinked and clean. The only hair he liked on him was Matt’s. And thinking of Matt got him hard, as it usually did, and by the time Vic pulled aside the curtain to exit the shower, his stiff cock led the way.

  With rough hands, Vic rubbed himself dry with a clean towel—first his head, then his chest and arms, then his legs. When he bent, his dick poked at his navel, sending pleasurable shivers into his balls. Running the towel up his thighs, Vic grabbed his erection in both hands through the terrycloth and stroked his length, massaged his nuts, squeezed and pulled and fondled himself until a faint gasp escaped his lips. It took all his super strength to reel in the sensations that flooded him. Not yet.

  Suddenly his lover’s voice spoke up in his mind, so warm and sensuous that Vic came, just a little. ::Are you getting off in there without me?:: Matt asked.

  Vic dropped the towel to the floor and grabbed a bottle of baby oil from the counter behind the towel. ::I’m just getting ready,:: he assured his lover. Squeezing a healthy dollop of oil into his hands, Vic slathered it onto his cock and balls, then bent at the waist and slicked his fingers around his tight hole. He gasped again when his middle finger breeched his ass.

 
; From the bedroom, Vic heard the squeal of springs as Matt climbed off the bed. ::That’s it, mister. I’m coming in there before I miss any of the fun.::

  ::Sit down,:: Vic told him, opening the bathroom door. ::I’m on my way.::

  When he reached the bedroom, he found Matt sitting back against the headboard of their bed, nude, his body golden in the low light cast from the bedside lamp. His long legs were stretched out before him, and his cock stood up from the curls at his crotch, thickly veined, glistening. As Vic approached, Matt joked, “About time you decided to share.” He patted a spot on his lower belly, just below his navel. “Sit.”

  Vic didn’t have to told twice. Climbing onto the bed, he crawled toward Matt on all fours, then over him, until he straddled his lover’s body. Leaning close, Vic pressed his mouth to Matt’s and dipped down until the tip of his cock brushed against Matt’s abdomen. The touch was electric. Vic felt it inflame his desire, invigorate his senses, and a randy lust forced him to push Matt back, hungry for more of his lover. “Matty,” he sighed between kisses as his dick strummed over firm muscles and through chest hair that tickled his shaft.

  Matt’s hands came up to cradle Vic’s ass, fingers dipped in lubricant that left cool oily trails between Vic’s buttocks. Guiding him back, Matt positioned Vic above his hard cock, then eased him down onto his length. The discomfort of entry was lost in eager kisses, and when Vic took Matt in completely, he licked away his lover’s moans of delight. They moved together in a slow rhythm, Matt’s hands kneading Vic’s ample buttocks, Vic’s cock rubbing between them, Matt thrusting up off the bed and deep into his lover. “Yes,” Vic gasped, again and again, each time the tip of his lover’s dick bumped his tender prostate. “Yes, yes, yes,” when Matt ground his heels into the sheets and pushed up into him. Their pace quickened, their coupling frenzied, the climax of a long day apart. Gripping the bed’s headboard, Vic threw back his head and cried out at the ceiling, “God, Matty, fuck me, harder, yes, yes.”

  The bed’s springs squawked in protest, and the headboard hit the wall with a steady knock knock that matched the guttural uh uh uh of Matt’s moans. How their neighbors slept through the racket, Vic didn’t know, but no one yelled out for them to keep it down and Vic gave himself into the moment, leaning back to place his hands on Matt’s knees and feel his lover’s dick drive into him from a different angle. “Fuck me,” he said, again and again. “Harder, Matty. Harder.”