An odd thought gripped Matt, so sudden, so powerful,that his hand clenched into a fist around the gate’s latch and hisbreath caught in his throat. They should get a place oftheir own, he and Vic. Not here, of course not, but somewhere inthe city, a nice little bungalow perhaps, or maybe a brick rancher.Something more than a handful of rented rooms in an apartmentbuilding, something theirs. With a privacy fence likeKyle’s, and a patio out back where they could sit in the evenings,and a breakfast nook where Matt could cuddle with his grumpy loverin the mornings. A house.
A home.
He’d mention it tonight. Just sort of breeze the ideaby Vic, feel him out, see if he’d given it any thought. What betterway to say, “I’ll love you forever,” than a thirty year mortgagehanging over their heads?
With a grin, Matt opened Kyle’s gate. One look at theblue water, sparkling with sunshine and twinkling into ripples inthe wind, and Matt added an in-ground pool to his list of amenitiestheir future house would have to have. Imagine eating a late dinneron the patio, the low footlights around the pool illuminating thedark water, the only light after the sun went down. Add himself inthat picture, naked, back-paddling as he waited for Vic to undressand join him in the pool. The two of them draped in water andshadow, bodies throbbing against each other as they made love inthe deep end.
Your cell phone, a voice in his headprompted.
Matt shook the thought away and hurried over to wherethe dry bar waited. His sneakers made little noise on the concrete,and the sound of water gurgling in the pool reminded him he wasrunning late for work. He wouldn’t have time for a morning swim ifhe didn’t get busy. Behind the bar, he moved aside the tall stooland dropped to his hands and knees to peer under the table.
A faint squee filled the air as the gate swungon its hinges. Matt jerked upright, but a stiff breeze ruffled hishair—that had to be what had set the gate in motion. He leaned backdown to peer under the bar.
He couldn’t see beneath it, it was so close to theground. He lowered himself farther, stretching out on his stomach,the concrete warm through the thin T-shirt he wore. With his cheekpressed to the clean, white walkway, he stretched an arm out underthe bar, groping blindly and feeling like an idiot, splayed on theground like that. All for a damn cell phone—
His fingers brushed the towel he remembered kickingaway Saturday night. Matt pulled it out, then dove back in for theitem hidden beneath it. His fingertips fumbled over smooth metaland as he got his hand around it, he could’ve crowed. “Ha!” helaughed, extracting his phone.
Then he heard the scrape of wood on concrete, andfelt the foot rails on the bottom of the barstool hit hisshoulders. Matt tried to move but the stool sat pressed against hisback, holding him into place. Two stool legs framed either side ofhis neck; his arms were out at his sides, and the remaining twowooden legs pinched and hemmed in his hips. Someone had snuck up onhim and placed the stool over his back, trapping him. Someone…
The stool creaked beneath sudden weight. Matt felt abare foot caress the back of his thigh—the big toe plucked at theleg of his swim trunks, then continued over the flimsy fabric topush against his ass. He felt bare toes massage his buttocks, thenslide down a bit, between his legs, to toy with his balls. For onebreathless moment, Matt savored the touch, firm yet gentle,kneading his sac through the shorts, rubbing him against the hardconcrete and sending a trill of delight humming through his entirebody.
Then he realized where he was and he tried to turnbut found himself pinned beneath the stool like a capturedbutterfly. He shook his hips to dislodge the foot on his backside.“What—”
“Hello, Matthew,” Jordan purred, his voice like sugarlaced with arsenic. “I didn’t think we’d ever get a momentto ourselves, did you?”
Matt craned his neck back, trying to see behind him.Was Kyle there, too? Jordan’s toes curled between his buttocks andMatt squirmed to shake them away. “Get off me,” he growled.
His pulse quickened as adrenaline flooded his system,but he couldn’t crawl out from under the stool, he couldn’t getaway. He felt Jordan above him, leaning over the stool; he felt hotbreath on the back of his neck, and a gentle finger brushed acrosshis nape like the gossamer threads of a spider web. Matt slapped atthe hand to keep it at bay. “This isn’t funny,” Matt tried again. Asudden inspiration flashed through him, and he added, “Vic’s in thecar. Waiting for me. When I don’t come back—”
“You lie,” Jordan said with a laugh. “I saw you driveup, Matthew. I know you’re alone.”
“I thought Kyle said you were leaving with him.” Butthe moment the words were free, Matt couldn’t remember if that’swhat he’d heard or not. He couldn’t imagine Kyle would stand forthis—Jordan’s toes rolled over Matt’s balls and dug at the crack inhis ass in a manner that was way too familiar. If Vic knew,he’d rip those toes off one by one and shove them down Jordan’sthroat. So why didn’t Jordan’s so-called boyfriend take issue withthe touch? “Where the hell is Kyle, anyway?”
Jordan leaned down over the seat of the stool andblew softly on Matt’s hot neck. “You heard him,” he said, laughingwhen Matt tried to swat him away. “He had to leave for work. Hedropped me off at my house and I drove back here to wait. Foryou.”
“What do you want?” Matt muttered. With a swish ofhis hips, he tried once more to dislodge Jordan’s toes and failed.“Get your goddamn foot out of my ass already, will you?”
Jordan didn’t comply; instead, he ground his footdown harder, mashing Matt’s nuts against the concrete. Matt bitback a sob, a mingled cry of lust and pain that scared him. Hewasn’t enjoying this, he wasn’t, but some masochistic partof him realized that if it were Vic teasing him like this, he justmight get
