In his dream, Matt placed the phone to his ear.::There you are. I was gettingworried. When are you getting here?::
He could feel Vic frown, even if he couldn’t see him.::I’m just around the corner. I’llbe there in two minutes, tops.::
::Then why’d youanswer your phone?:: Matt asked. Why not speak with himtelepathically, if he were so close?
The confusion was bright in Vic’s voice. ::What? I’m not on my phone.::
Matt stretched—the bed sheets rustled around him, andthe dream of sitting on the edge of the bed with his phone in hishand dissipated. Aloud, he murmured, “I must still be asleep.Vic?”
::Twominutes,:: his lover promised. ::I’ll wake you up when I get in.::
With a sense of relief, Matt snuggled into Vic’spillow again and drifted off a second time. Another dream playedout in his mind—this time he sat on the sofa, waiting for Vic toarrive, his hands behind his back. In each, he held a small velvetbox; in each box was one of those triangle diamond rings he’d seenonline. One for him, one for Vic. His heart beat rapidly in hischest as he heard his lover approach. First there were heavyfootsteps on the stairs, then in the hall. Then a key scraped intothe lock, and the front door swung open. In Matt’s dream, Viclooked larger than life, filling the doorway like a god. From hisseat on the couch, Matt held out his hands and said, “Pick one.”
Vic dropped to his knee in response. Matt laughed.“No, silly, I’m doing theproposing.”
Without a word, Vic took one of Matt’s feet into hishands and caressed the sole with long strokes. Raising the foot tohis face, he rubbed his goatee along the bottoms of Matt’s toes,tickling them. The short bristles of hair felt like fur along hisfoot. Matt writhed on the couch, snickering. ::Vic! Please…::
Still silent, Vic licked out, his tongue wetting thetips of Matt’s toes. The sensation was maddening as Vic workedbetween each toe individually, then began to lap the sole of Matt’sfoot. The remnants of Matt’s dream fell away as he woke to findhimself lying in bed above the sheets, one leg dangling over theedge of the mattress, something cold and damp nosing at his ankleas that hot tongue continued to lick his foot.
From the bathroom, Matt heard the light click off andthe toilet flush. In a low voice, Vic admonished, “Stop that.”
All traces of sleepiness disappeared in an instant.Matt sat up quickly, pulling his legs to his chest. If Vic wereover there, then who…orwhat…? Reaching for the lamp on the bedside table, Matt called out,“Vic? Don’t tell me that wasn’t you.”
He turned on the lamp, and its golden glow pushed theshadows back from the bed. Matt saw Vic kneeling on thefloor—like in my dream, hethought, shaking his head. There were no rings, though, and betweenVic’s legs sat a large, golden dog who watched Matt with dark,shiny eyes. Its broad tongue hung out as it panted happily, andwhen it met Matt’s gaze, it woofed once, softly. “Hush,” Vic said,struggling to release the clasp that held its leash to itscollar.
The dog’s tail beat the floor in a rapid staccatopattern, and every few moments, the dog turned its head to lick outat Vic’s ear. The first time it did that, Vic swatted it away andit chased after his hand, eager to coat that, too, with its spit.From where he sat on the bed, Matt grinned. “What’s this?”
Vic gave him a sardonic look. “A dog. What’s it looklike?”
“Is it ours?” Matt wanted to know.
With a final click, Vic got the leash free and the dog leapt fromhis arms to clamber onto the bed to join Matt. “Hey!” Vic shouted,but the dog ignored him. “Matty, not on the bed…”
Matt ignored him, as well. Catching the dog’s face inboth hands, he rubbed behind the dog’s ears as he leaned inclose—the dog licked his face, happy to meet him. “Who’s a goodboy?” Matt cooed. “Is you mine? Did big ol’ Vic get you for me?Yes, I think so. I really think so.”
“Why do you do that?” Vic wanted to know. “You see ananimal and you act like you’re two.”
To the dog, Matt asked, “Is someone jealous?”
Vic stood, arms crossed, the leash wrapped around onefist, and glared at the two of them on the bed. Extracting himselffrom the dog, Matt wiped the slobber off his cheeks with hisT-shirt as he stood. He sidled up to Vic, smoothing his arms aroundhis lover’s waist, and hugged him tight. Behind him, the dogsettled into the middle of the bed, watching.
In a low voice, Matt murmured, “You didn’t haveto.”
“I couldn’t just leave it,” Vic said.
Gently, Matt eased into Vic’s mind, curious about howhe had ended up with the dog. When he found Vic’s memory of whathad happened that afternoon at the construction site, he heardKendra’s words and shuddered. Hugging his lover tight, hewhispered, “Thank you.”
Vic sighed, perturbed, but Matt touched his face andhis mood softened. The arms clenched so tight across his chestopened, taking Matt into his embrace. “It’s not sleeping in thebed.”
“We’ll buy a pet bed,” Matt agreed. “I’m not sharingyou with anything else. You’re all mine.”
TO BE CONTINUED…
* * * *
ABOUT J.M. SNYDER
A multi-published author of gay erotic/romanticfiction, J.M. Snyder began writing boyband slashbefore turning to self-publishing. She has worked with severaldifferent e-publishers, including Amber Allure Press, AspenMountain Press, eXcessica Publishing, and Torquere Press, and hasshort stories published in anthologies by Alyson Books, AspenMountain Press, Cleis Press, eXcessica Publishing, Lethe Press, andRavenous Romance. For more information, including excerpts, freestories, and monthly contests, please visit jmsnyder.net.
ABOUT JMS BOOKS LLC
JMS Books LLC is a smallelectronic press specializing in gay, lesbian, bisexual, andtransgender fiction (including erotica, romance, and young adult),as well as popular and literary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.While our preference is for GLBT stories, we accept storiescontaining any and all sexualities, as well as
