Adam grinned at him, and Ben burst into giggles as Adam pulled him up to give him a kiss.
“You’re cold,” murmured Adam into his mouth.
“You love it,” Ben retorted, rubbing his fingers along the Adam’s skin.
Adam’s kisses were growing more and more arduous; Ben’s heart quickened in his chest. He still had the taste of Adam’s precum on his tongue, the warmth of his cock heavy on his lips. His stomach curled at the memory, or maybe it was the way that cock was pressing into his thigh, Adam’s arms around him, holding him in.
“Adam,” breathed Ben. “Come to bed with me.”
Adam’s chuckle rumbled in his chest. “Yes.”
They fumbled for the water controls together. The air outside the shower stall was still sticky with warmth, and when Adam reached for a towel, Ben tugged him out of reach.
“No,” he gasped, pulling Adam into the bedroom.
The oscillating fan felt cool now on their wet skin; they fell into the bed, wet and dripping. Ben landed on Adam’s chest, and immediately reared himself up again. Ben shivered as Adam took hold of his cock – or maybe that was the way the fan’s breeze chilled his skin.
“Oh, yeah,” breathed Ben, grinding up against him.
“What do you want?” asked Adam. His voice was gravelly, thick with lust and his French accent, and it made Ben’s heart skip a beat.
“You,” breathed Ben.
Adam’s eyes were dark. “Did you get—”
“Last week, in the drawer.”
Adam rolled enough to yank the drawer open and pull out the condoms and lube. Ben took the lube from him and squirted a little out on his fingers.
“You know,” he said, rubbing the slickness between his fingers, “one of the disadvantages of trying to surprise me?”
Adam’s eyes were a little bit glassy as he carefully ripped open the condom wrapper. “What?”
Ben shifted back on the bed until he was no longer straddling Adam. Instead, he sat back between Adam’s spread legs and let his fingers drift down to his cock, leaving a shining line of slick from the head down to the base. “I was going to prepare myself for you. So I’d be ready when you got here.” Ben let out a long, despairing sigh. “Guess you’re just going to have to wait a few minutes, huh.”
Adam’s neck bobbed as he swallowed. “I could help you out with that.”
Ben’s fingers circled his hole, tight and puckered and surely pink in the warm room. “Oh, no,” breathed Ben. “No, you need to keep yourself hard so you’re ready for me.”
Adam swore again in French. Ben recognized the word and grinned at him, just before he slipped the first finger into himself.
It didn’t take long – it wasn’t as if Ben hadn’t known this was coming for the last few weeks. But Ben wasn’t interested in going particularly quick. Half the fun was watching the way Adam struggled to keep himself hard, stroking his cock with increasingly erratic jerks, his eye wide on Ben’s hand and the movements he made. Adam’s breathing was even better – hard and shallow and then letting out long sighs every time Ben whimpered or moaned as he added another finger to his thrusting. Adam shifted on the bed when Ben added a third finger and let his head fall back. It felt good now; the nerves were awakening, starting to tingle in ways that Ben knew meant only good things.
His fingers weren’t long enough, weren’t full enough. They didn’t reach him deep enough, didn’t stretch him in the way he wanted to be stretched. He needed more.
He needed Adam.
Ben’s breath came in gasps. “A-a-ade....”
Ben’s eyes were closed, but he felt the shift on the bed as Adam reached for him. As much as Ben wanted him, though, the thought of being covered by Adam in the ridiculous warmth was suffocating.
“No,” gasped Ben, which made Adam’s pushing insistence lesson. “I want—”
“Oh!” Adam pulled Ben now, instead of pushing. Ben opened his eyes to see Adam fall back against the cushions again, grimacing a little bit. “They’re wet.”
Ben giggled as he straddled Adam’s legs again. He carefully positioned himself over Adam’s sheathed cock, slick with lube. He gave it one, two deft strokes before slowly sinking down onto it.
Adam’s eyes closed; Ben could see him go still, holding his breath, holding his muscles, growing taut with tension as Ben sank onto his cock.
The stretch, the depth, the warmth – it was everything Ben had been craving for two months. Everything he’d been ignoring in the heat of a Boston summer. Everything he’d told himself he’d have in spades come August.
Ben rested his hands on Adam’s chest. Adam surged under him, unable to hold in desire for a single moment more. The idea that Adam had been wanting Ben for the last two months – had maybe been ignoring his own desire just as Ben had done – was enough to make Ben start to move, rising and falling over him, rocking on his cock.
“Did you think about this,” breathed Ben. His skin was heating up, even with the fan’s breeze hitting him every few seconds.
“Oh yeah.” Adam’s hand was warm on Ben’s cock, slowly stroking with gentle squeezes, his thumb rubbing along Ben’s slit. His fingers were slick with the lube he’d used on his cock, and it felt cool when the breeze hit that too. It was enough to forget the steaming heat outside. “Thought about nothing else.”
“Good.” Ben leaned forward and kissed him lightly. Adam demanded more, and Ben gave in, letting Adam deepen the kiss, suck his tongue into his mouth and hold it there until Ben was breathless and his head spun. The angle was just enough to keep Adam’s cock from fully filling him, though, and Ben found his desire mounting, expanding on itself until it was all he could think about.
He pushed himself up again, and let out a cry, every nerve coming fully awake.
“Ouais,” breathed Adam. “Yes, like that—”
Ben rocked on him, faster and faster, the cool breeze rushing over his skin even as the warmth from their love-making heated him from within. Cool and hot, reservation and release, the sound of his skin slapping against Adam’s, the feel of Adam’s hand on his cock and his hip, the smell of the lube and their sweat and the water from the shower evaporating on Ben’s skin.
It was enough and more than enough and Ben came with a groan, his head falling back as he spurted out over Adam’s hand, every muscle quivering against Adam’s length in him. He heard Adam’s grunt as he fell back, Adam’s cock slipping out. Ben caught himself before he hit the mattress, gasping with the loss of contact.
“Ben,” said Adam, strangled. “I need—”
“Yes,” gasped Ben. Adam’s legs disappeared from the sides. Ben fell on the mattress as Adam covered him, sliding his cock back into his wet and gaping hole, thrusting hard and fast and coming with barely a cry or hesitation.
Ben stretched his arms above his head; his muscles tingled with pleasure. Above him, Adam caught his breath, arms shaking, skin glistening with sweat and goosebumps raised by the breeze.
Ben could have stayed forever, linked to Adam. Or at least as long as their skin stayed cool. It was a pretty good start.
Adam lowered himself until his forehead, damp with new sweat, rested on Ben’s sternum. “Huh,” he grunted. Ben heard the exhaustion in his voice.
“We need another shower,” said Ben, running his fingers through Adam’s still-damp hair.
Adam’s chuckle vibrated through Ben’s chest. “I don’t think I want to move.”
“Good,” said Ben. “Stay.”
“Think I will,” said Adam, settling all the way down. He was warm and heavy and damp with sweat, and it would have been the best thing in the world eight months previous, but...
“Ugh! Get off, you’re warm,” groaned Ben, shoving lightly at his shoulders. Adam chuckled again, rolling to the side and falling next to Ben. “And now you’re blocking the breeze.”
“Air conditioning,” said Adam dreamily. His eyes were closed; he might have been falling asleep.
“Wimp,” said Ben, pok
ing him in the chest. “My shower’s still better.”
“Only if it has you in it,” said Adam, throwing one arm over Ben’s torso. He let out a sigh, his face growing slack.
Ben watched him settle into what was surely a comfortable sleep. Every nerve still tingled in his skin; he could still feel the slick of Adam’s cock in him, the warmth of their love-making in the air between them.
Tomorrow, Adam would go to sign his new lease. He’d take possession of his new keys and start his new life.
Tomorrow, Ben would meet with his old skating team. They’d take a couple of turns on the ice for old times’ sake before the local competition started and they took their roles as line judges and refs as a new generation of speed skaters embarked on their own careers.
And at the end of the day, Ben and Adam would meet again, and start the new chapters of their lives together.
Ben’s heart fluttered with excitement.
“Hey,” whispered Ben. Adam didn’t move; surely he was asleep. “Welcome home.”
Adam’s eyes opened. Just enough to be awake. Just enough for Ben to know he’d been heard.
“Yeah,” said Adam, as if he was realizing this for the first time, “I think I am.”
The End
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About the Author
Penelope Peters grew up with a Hanukkah menorah on one side of the living room and a Christmas tree (not a Hanukkah bush!) on the other. Now she makes a point of keeping the Christmas decorations put away until Hanukkah is over (unless the calendar dictates otherwise). She grew up with kugels and latkes and recently tried her hand at sufganiyot (which were really yummy and not too hard to make, either; you can read more about that adventure on her blog). Penelope continues to add to her collection of Hanukkah-themed socks.
Penelope currently lives in a country that doesn’t celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah, and can tell you it’s really hard to remember when holidays are approaching without public affirmation of their arrival. Luckily, her husband and two sons don’t mind when presents appear a little late. The cat probably minds a great deal.
Catch up with Penelope:
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Also by Penelope Peters
The Downing Cycle:
The Country Omega
The Country Alpha: Ned’s Story
The Country Alpha: Veronica’s Story
Standalone Stories:
The Omega Nanny
A Christmas Caroling
The Prince and the Omega
Camp Lake Omega
What Happens at Bonded Beach
Acknowledgements
Ben’s Bakery has been an entire year in the making. From the moment I first received the prompt as part of a holiday gift-giving exchange, I knew I wanted to expand the story beyond the perimeters of the guidelines. Thanks very much to PG, who supplied the original prompt and was enthusiastic about me taking the time to really explore it.
Thanks also go to Sarah, who provided a much-needed sensitivity check. My Jewish education was much more similar to Ben’s than to Adam’s, and Sarah was able to steer me in the right direction with Adam’s cultural differences – as well as point out a few inconsistencies about kosher restaurants!
Thanks to Suze, who once again taught me more about graphic design and how colors work together (or don’t).
Finally, thanks to my family, who happily tested sufganiyot and latke recipes for me. I’m very sorry about the eggplant version, it won’t happen again.
Ben’s Bakery and the Hanukkah Miracle
Copyright © 2018 Penelope Peters
Cover by Creativindie
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author.
First Edition: November 2018
Ben's Bakery and the Hanukkah Miracle Page 24