by Elinor Gray
Getting his sweater, button-down, and T-shirt all off at the same time was a disaster, but at least David was laughing by the time he got the whole mess over his head. The moment Adam’s eyes were uncovered, David sat up and got his mouth on Adam’s nipples, licking and sucking at each of them in turn with his arms wrapped around Adam’s waist, his big hands spanning Adam’s back. Adam swore and threw the shirt ball onto the floor, grabbing David’s head instead.
“What do you want?” he asked. “What do you want to do?”
David looked up at him, rubbing his scratchy chin deliberately against Adam’s tender skin. “I like your hands.”
“I like yours too,” Adam agreed, scraping his fingernails along David’s scalp. David’s hair was springy and soft under his fingers.
David took off his glasses and leaned away to put them on Adam’s bedside table. Adam took the opportunity to climb off and take his jeans, socks, and boxers off as well, and climbed back onto the bed butt-naked. David laughed again, left behind, and began to undress. Adam started to help. They got into a wrestling match about it, which made the whole process take twice as long, but at least Adam got to fondle David’s package and thighs and calves while he was at it and make David laugh more.
Finally they were both naked, and they fell onto the pillows facing each other. Adam smoothed his palm down David’s side and hip, down his thigh, and up again to palm the hard cock that jutted out between his thighs. David tucked his arm under his head, elbow bent, and reached out to mirror Adam, tracing his fingers down Adam’s belly to his dick and up the length of it to the wet tip. They gripped each other at the same time, and Adam nudged his forehead against David’s, closing his eyes. David stroked him slowly. Adam followed suit, letting David set the pace. David kissed him, licking into his mouth and thumbing the head of his cock at the same time, which made Adam lose his place.
“No, wait,” he said, opening his eyes again, “I’m supposed to be treating you.”
David said, “Oh, that’s right,” with a grin, and rolled onto his back. Adam scooted closer, propping himself up on his elbow with his forearm under David’s head and snuggled close against his side. His cock rubbed against David’s hip. That was going to be distracting.
He leaned down to press his mouth to David’s, licking between his lips, kissing him over and over. David rubbed his palm between Adam’s shoulder blades as Adam began to work David’s cock with his hand. He played with the foreskin, rubbing it over David’s tender cockhead and watching the precome well up and spill over. David squirmed, pushing his hips into Adam’s hand, and Adam started to stroke him, moving David’s velvety skin over the iron-hard core of his cock. David was biting at Adam’s lips, murmuring his appreciation for the touch, until finally he lost his coordination in kissing Adam back and was just breathing against his lips. Adam pulled back to look down into his face: eyes closed, brow creased, pink tongue darting out to wet his lips, a blush just visible in his cheeks.
“You feel good,” Adam said.
“Fuck,” David said, “you feel good. I want your fingers in me.”
“Oh,” Adam said, head swimming with lust. “Yeah, okay.”
He had to change position, get the lube out of the drawer, and sit between David’s widespread legs. He smeared slick on the first two fingers of his left hand and pressed his index against David’s entrance. David’s balls were heavy, and he stroked the seam of them with his thumb. David folded his arms beneath his head, muscles flexing, and looked down his body at Adam, grinning. Adam took David’s dick in hand again and said, “Ready?”
“More than ready,” David said.
Adam pushed in, sliding his grip up and down on David’s cock at the same time, and his finger sank in easily. He worked it in and out, watching David’s face; David was still smiling, eyes open, his lips parted and his chest rising and falling. As Adam fucked him shallowly with one finger, his face relaxed and his eyes closed, and he began to moan with every thrust. He was leaking over Adam’s hand, his cock thick and hard, his little dark slit beading up with precome. Adam worked him between his hands, fucking and stroking, his wrists starting to ache but with no plans to stop.
David was exquisite: his knees bent, his belly flexing, his nipples pebbled tight. He stretched his arms out on either side of himself, gripping the quilts beneath him, and began to fuck himself up into Adam’s grip and then rock back on his finger. Adam pressed deeper, easing his fingertip across David’s prostate, and David moaned loudly, his cock pulsing in Adam’s hand.
“Right there,” David gasped to the ceiling.
“Mmhm,” Adam agreed, watching his finger sink in and out as David rocked and squirmed. He smeared more lube over his hand and at David’s nod, eased the second finger in.
“Fuck,” David groaned, arching up. Adam stroked him faster, his grip slick, and began to rub his thumb against the underside of the head the way he’d found David liked, while at the same time rubbing more intently against his prostate with every thrust.
David let go of the quilt to grab the headboard instead, going wild between Adam’s hands. His heels dug into the bed as Adam fucked him.
“Make me come,” David demanded in a voice that went straight to Adam’s cock. He was so hard, watching David’s ass swallow his fingers, feeling David’s dick throbbing and twitching in his hand, listening to David get closer and closer to his orgasm. David’s balls were high and tight, and his cock felt bigger than it ever had. Adam pushed his fingers in deep and skated them across David’s prostate over and over, ratcheting him up until David was whispering, “Fuck, oh, fuck,” and his ass was clamping down on Adam’s fingers. His cock flexed hard, and Adam felt it as he started to spurt thick come up his belly and chest. David groaned loudly, and Adam swallowed his own answering moan, the sight of David’s orgasm taking him almost to his own edge.
David relaxed, and Adam eased his fingers out slowly. He was shaking all over and his dick felt like it had never been harder. He clambered up onto his knees and wrapped the hand that had stroked David off around his own cock. The touch sent lightning up his spine; all the muscles in his pelvis tightened. He was so close, his cockhead dripping and his ass clenched.
David’s hand covered his as he began to jack himself off, hard and fast, his only thought to mark David’s belly up with his own come. David grasped the back of his neck, and he was pulled down into a hard kiss. David tasted like wine and buttery dough and smelled like sweat and spunk. Adam’s orgasm felt like being sucked under a wave: rushing upon him and turning him head over heels. David held onto him tight.
Once they had peeled themselves apart, they got into the shower together and washed each other off with gentle hands. The bathroom steamed up quickly, and they brushed their teeth side by side, unable to see themselves in the mirror. It didn’t matter. Adam couldn’t look away from David, and David’s eyes kept finding his, accompanied by David’s warm smile. They put their underwear back on to get into bed, cuddling up under the blankets with their legs tangled together.
“Hey,” David said, “what do you want to do for your birthday tomorrow?”
Adam hadn’t forgotten about it, but the question surprised him. “Do?”
“Do, eat, watch. I bet the mountain is empty on Christmas morning… we could go snowshoeing if the snow has stopped coming down.”
“I’ve never gone snowshoeing,” Adam said.
“Never?” David slid his fingers through Adam’s damp hair. “I can’t wait to take you. I know someone who will lend us two pairs.”
“And what if the snow is still falling?” Adam couldn’t hear it against the window anymore, but that didn’t mean it had stopped.
“Well, then, maybe we don’t go out in it,” David hedged, “but we could, I don’t know, go find a coffee shop that’s open.”
“They’re all closed,” Adam protested.
“Not all of them,” David said. “Not everyone celebrates Christmas, Adam. Just lots of people. Some things stay
open.”
Adam thought about it. “There’s a movie coming out tomorrow I’d go see,” he said finally.
“See? That’s perfect. We can do that.”
“What about your family?”
“I’ll call them first thing,” David said, reaching over Adam and turning the bedside light out. “Then we can do whatever you want.”
One Year Later, Two Days Before Christmas
THE PLANE landed in Philadelphia just after midnight. David and Adam had watched the newly released Star Melody movie on the way and eaten their airport takeaway meals, and Adam had splurged on an in-flight cocktail. David knew Adam was nervous; he could see it in the tension in Adam’s back as they shuffled their way off the plane, and feel it in the tight grip Adam had on his hand as they made their way through the airport to the baggage claim.
David kept an eye out for his sister. She was the one on pickup duty this year, according to his mother. Esther wouldn’t be hard to spot: she had always had a fondness for bright colors, and even at midnight in the PHL airport—there she was. She caught his eye the moment he saw her, and hurried over, her arms wide.
“David!” she cried, embracing him with her whole body. He wrapped her in a hug and squeezed, breathing in the familiar smell of her hair oil and perfume. Her coat was cold against his body but her cheek was warm, and her hair was a soft tickle against his face. When she pulled away finally, her eyes were gleaming. Then she turned to Adam.
“You must be Adam.” She reached out and folded Adam’s hand in both of hers, beaming up at him. Adam smiled back, a little shy.
“Esther, hi,” he said.
“It’s so good to meet you,” she said. “You got your bags yet?”
“Here they come,” David said, pointing.
“How was the flight?” Esther asked, taking David’s arm in hers but angling herself toward Adam. “Not too long? Boring?”
“We watched Star Melody: The Awakening,” David said. “Did you see that when it came out?”
THE DRIVE to his parents’ house in Southwest Philly was short, only about fifteen minutes, and Adam held his hand the whole way. He’d sworn up and down he wasn’t nervous about meeting David’s family all at once. It was that they were doing it at Christmas, which was also his birthday, and though he’d been going to therapy every other week for the last seven months, he was still feeling all kinds of feelings about it. David respected that. His family had no chance against Adam’s charm. He didn’t want to admit to Adam he, too, was worried about the Christmas thing but he had a plan, something that would make the weekend unforgettable, not all about Christmas, and wouldn’t even ruin his birthday.
When Esther pulled into the driveway of the Okoye parents’ house, Adam squeezed David’s hand and let go, giving him a smile across the car.
“Ready?” David murmured.
“Ready,” Adam vowed.
Esther went up to open the front door while they unloaded their suitcases from the back, and by the time they reached the stoop, David realized the house wasn’t quiet. He heard his dad’s laugh booming out and felt his stomach swoop in anticipation. The whole family had stayed up.
As he stepped into the house, there was a chorus of voices that greeted him, and the joy and love washed over him. He dropped the suitcases beside the door and caught his niece and nephew up in a bear hug, lifting them both off the ground. He wasn’t going to be able to do that much longer, but they both squealed in his ears in delight. Once released, they ran back to Jem and Sharon. David’s dad was next, enveloping David in strong arms and the smell of warm wool and peppermint lozenges. David breathed in deeply.
“It’s good to have you home,” his dad said.
“Good to be home. Dad,” David said, pulling away. “This is my boyfriend, Adam.”
“Mr. Okoye,” Adam said, putting his hand out.
“Please,” David’s dad said, ignoring the hand and going in for a hug, which Adam accepted with a grin. “Call me Chukwuemeka.”
“Okay,” Adam said with a wide-eyed look at David over Chukwuemeka’s shoulder. David laughed. His mother Nneka had approached and sidled in under David’s arm for a sideways hug.
“You boys must be hungry,” she said, patting David’s ribs. “There’s some dinner left if you want it.”
They did eat, standing in the kitchen with David’s parents and Esther. Jem and Sharon joined them once the kids were in bed.
“So, Adam,” Nneka said, “David tells us Monday is also your birthday, so we were thinking we could do something special in the evening for you.”
“Oh,” Adam said, “that’s very kind, but—”
“No, no,” Nneka said, waving her hand. “The reservation has already been made. I will hear no protestations.”
“Thank you,” Adam said, more softly.
It was almost one in the morning by the time David and Adam got to bed.
“Your family is nice,” Adam said in the dark, his pinkie finger hooked around David’s. David squeezed gently.
“Yeah, they’re pretty sweet,” David agreed.
“Thanks for bringing me.”
“I’m glad you came.”
“Mm,” Adam said, already drifting off.
David thought about the box he’d secreted away in his suitcase. He’d warned his parents: tomorrow, on Christmas Eve, he was going to take Adam ice-skating and then, over cocoa, propose to him. When he said yes—because David knew he was going to say yes—they’d have time to celebrate it with his family before Christmas Day, so that Adam’s birthday dinner would still be all about him, just the way he deserved.
ELINOR GRAY is a sucker for adventure: after college she moved to London on a whim and spent sixteen months absorbing the history, mastering the warren of streets, and living her Anglophile dream. She considers that time an essential period research for her fiction, though technically she was getting a Master of Arts degree in Geography, and she misses the noise, the crowds, and the smog. As a reader and writer, Elinor has an affinity for queer romance, fantasy, sci-fi, historical fiction, and the Wild West, and will always say yes to the Victorian era. Now she lives in Portland, Oregon, with her wife, three cats, one bicycle, and a yarn stash that is always on the verge of being out of control.
Get in touch at elinorgrayauthor.com or at @ElinorGray on Twitter.
By Elinor Gray
The Santa Project
Published by DREAMSPINNER PRESS
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
Published by
DREAMSPINNER PRESS
5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
The Santa Project
© 2019 Elinor Gray
Cover Art
© 2019 Brooke Albrecht
http://brookealbrechtstudio.com
Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.
All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or www.dreamspinnerpress.com.
Digital ISBN: 978-1-64405-767-4
Digital eBook published December 2019
v. 1.0
Printed in the United States of America