by eXtasy Books
“I can do that.” She glanced at the clock. “We have half an hour before the nuptials start, don’t we?”
“Not sure about the nuptials, but the wedding starts in half an hour,” Ferric said. “Wait. Are nuptials weddings?”
We both nodded.
“I think I lost my mind when we got carjacked. I’m forgetting stuff.”
He frowned.
“Have a cupcake, sweetheart,” I said.
His face brightened.
“On the house,” the shop assistant said.
“Really?” I was pleased to see the light back in Ferric’s sweet face. He rushed to the pile on display and picked out a chocolate cupcake.
“That’s my favorite, too,” she said with approval.
“Thank you,” he said, and licked the peak of frosting from the top.
She turned the cake around, studying it. “I think we’ll put some flowers on this corner. It’s a little less smooth than the other one.”
“No need.” Francois snapped his cell phone shut. “They found the car.”
“Who?” I asked as we hurried out of the shop. “The police?”
“No.” he looked askance at me. “Are you joking? What clowns they are. No. An associate of mine took care of it.”
“Is the cake okay?”
He grinned at me. “Do you know me at all, baby?”
His gaze shifted to Ferric climbing in the back seat.
“Didn’t you want one, too?”
“No. I want Chinese food. I have a hankering for egg rolls.” I paused. “And velvet corn soup.”
He arched a brow as he opened the passenger door for me.
“And as soon as we’re alone, I want you,” I said.
He walked around, got into the driver’s side and leaned across, kissing me.
“You got it,” he said against my mouth.
We rolled up to a back alley behind a sporting goods store.
The wedding cake had been jostled some, but it was mostly okay if you squinted and looked at it from a distance. My wallet was gone. So was the Game Boy. The laptop and the wedding gift were still in the trunk.
Leilani threw herself into Francois’ arms, crying in gratitude.
I stared at the man waiting for us. I wondered who he was. He looked like a hillbilly in jeans. He was easily in his late sixties, wore his thinning gray hair scraped into a ponytail and wore a black vest over a white T-shirt. I hoped my mom would never meet him. She would fall in love with him on sight. She not only has crazy taste in clothing, but her boyfriends come from the human equivalent of the back of a truck.
He wore a shoulder holster and I recognized the bulge of a gun under his left arm. He shook Francois’ hand, and Ferric’s. He took mine, smiling at me. I became mesmerized. I knew he was a badass. Holy cat. I hoped he never, ever got within sniffing distance of my mom.
Leilani turned to mush as he kissed her hand. Her fake eyelashes had fallen. One was tucked between her breasts and the gunman retrieved it with nimble fingers, handing it to her.
She tittered. I wasn’t sure what was worse—Leilani crying or tittering.
“The perps vanished,” the old guy said. Italian. Thick accent.
“Take what you need from the vehicle, I’ll get it dusted for prints and make sure it’s returned to the rental agency.
“Thank you, Lars,” Francois said. “I owe you one.”
Lars? What the hell kind of name was that for an underground enforcer?
“Yeah, you do,” Lars said, opening his mouth into a smile that frightened me. I instantly thought of a crocodile. “I was glad to step in. Bad business when a man’s family gets carjacked.”
“My stopwatch is still here!” Ferric held it up to show me. I was pleased. The kid truly had his father’s talent for toys.
“Anytime you need something, call me.” Francois had one arm around me, the other around Ferric. I’d never seen my man so rattled.
“Gosh,” Leilani said as we took our stuff out of the rental. “I’ve never met a genuine Mafioso before. Think he would like to come to the wedding?”
“No!” I said, but she galloped over to the guy before I could stop her.
“Why not, Dad?” Ferric asked.
“Your grandmother will fall for him,” I said, feeling gloomy. Great, now I’d have to watch her like a hawk for the entire day.
“Grandma needs some,” Ferric announced. “Ever since my last granddad got arrested, she’s been a bit lonely.”
Francois broke into a grin.
“And I hear Lars is packing some heat in the pants department.”
I covered my ears. This was my mother we were talking about.
Surprisingly, the wedding seemed to be progressing without any other calamities. The brides had chosen a wonderful GLBT-friendly venue called Woodwinds. Four different weddings were going on at the same time. Ours got a lot of attention with the lavender theme and one bride running across the emerald green lawn in a slip and pink bunny slippers to the other. Mele, I must say, made a gorgeous hula bride.
If I were to consider bedding a woman, it would be Mele. Francois, who was now completely gay, never even looked at her. He kept his sights on me and Ferric, who also seemed to crush on Mele. I saw his eyes flutter with pleasure when she clasped him to her perfect, natural, bosomy breasts.
“Oh, geez.” Francois put his arm around me. “The kid’s in trouble. He likes women.”
I laughed for the first time since I woke up that morning with Francois’ tongue licking a determined path down to my ass from the middle of my back.
“Mingo,” he said, when I pressed my face into his big, hard body, pleased to touch it once again.
I couldn’t speak. The magnitude that Francois might have lost Ferric, and me, really hit me.
“If anything happened to you and Ferric, I want you to know, I wouldn’t want to live. I couldn’t live anymore.” His voice, thick with emotion, flew to my heart. He held me tight as we watched all the women hugging and kissing Ferric.
Mele came over to me, slipping her arms underneath Francois’ embrace and hugged me. She smelled wonderful. I knew the scent well, pikake.
“I’m glad you’re okay. Mingo, did your life flash before your eyes?”
“Yes,” I started to say.
“Did you think about Francois?”
How did I respond with Francois listening?
I had thought about him, but not in the way she meant. I’d been worried about what he would do to me if something happened to Ferric. I realized in that moment that I hadn’t thought about maybe this being the last moment I would be without him because the thought was too painful. I knew I loved the man, but the heartbreak, the power my love for him could cause me…wow…no wonder I focused on the Repco boys’ bicycle..
I didn’t realize I’d said the words aloud. She stared at me. Francois laughed. Embarrassment flushed my cheeks.
“Oh, my God, Mingo,” my mom said, materializing beside me, Lars beside her, shadowing her. His gun was evident underneath his form-fitting vest, but I noticed he had a black jacket in his hands. Suddenly, he scared me.
My mom put her hands on her hips. “Mingo McCloud, are you still whining about that stupid bicycle?”
Chapter Two
The wedding went off without a hitch, unless you count the world’s most intrusive wedding videographer who must have had a side career in porn. He was fond of under-the-body shots and he’d just suddenly be there the second you had a mouthful of food. He was such a loon, he’d even dyed his hair lavender in honor of the brides.
Francois, Ferric and I stood beside Leilani who whispered, “You’re next,” as her bride walked down the aisle to her on her father’s arm. How in the world he managed to avoid the lavender Aloha shirt puzzled me and annoyed Francois who’d struggled against wearing his. The string quartet Mele had hired played a mix of Hawaiian melodies and the bridal waltz and it all seemed to work. I watched over my shoulder as Mele walked toward us and spo
tted Benny Leonard, the attorney Leilani and I frequently worked for, sitting in the crowd. He gave me a finger wave. I stared at his lavender-hued yarmulke.
I froze when I glimpsed his companion. The shock of slick black hair could only mean one person. I was about to almost pee my pants for the second time that day.
My ex-lover, Kaolin. I had no idea they were back together. I caught Kaolin’s black eyes, saw the curve of smile on his face and relief flooded my stressed-out system. Not Kaolin but a close body double.
Damn, that was close. I had no idea how Francois would feel about sharing the same air as Kaolin.
I turned back to the front, surprised so many people had come from all over the world, even a couple of pro-GLBT legislation Facebook friends the two brides had never even met in person.
The ceremony was short and very, very sweet. I roamed the massive buffet tables in the reception room looking for Chinese food. I had to content myself with a chicken kabob. My cherished and adored Francois leaned against a wall, talking into his cell phone, Lars was nuzzling my mom, Ferric danced with the little kids in the middle of the dance floor. And everyone knew about the Repco boys’ bicycle.
I would never live it down.
The floor cleared long enough for the two brides to waltz to an old Hawaiian mele. Well, they didn’t so much waltz as they pawed each other in dirty-dancing style. I longed to dance with Francois, but he wasn’t much of the dancing type. Unless you counted nighttime maneuvers guaranteed to keep you hot and bothered for hours. If I couldn’t dance with him, I wanted some fast and dirty time with him. I glanced at him. He was frowning, making notes. Whatever case he was working on at the moment seemed to keep him frustrated.
Somebody put Disco Duck on the speaker system as the band took a break and I watched Ferric throw back his head and laugh as the two brides whirled him around the dance floor with a lot of wing-flapping moves. I brushed an ant off the bamboo skewer in my hand, courtesy of the hibiscus flowers decorating the table. Ants adored hibiscus.
The music got me thinking about Peking duck. I wondered if, when all this was over, Francois would indulge me with some Chinese takeout. We were staying down the road in a new motel and would be there another couple of days, thanks to the new case Francois had picked up since our arrival. I watched him pace. I wondered if the fried rice in Hartford, Connecticut, came with pineapple pieces the way it did back home and all of a sudden, I missed my Hawaii. I missed our home. I missed walking out and looking at our spectacular chunk of beach at Waimea. I sure missed the ocean.
Ferric came over to me and I put my arm across his shoulders. I could feel the heat of Francois’ stare. He was keeping an eye on us.
“You want something to eat?” I asked Ferric.
“I want Chinese food,” he said. “I don’t know why, but I do.”
“Me, too.”
“Grandma likes Lars,” he said, picking up a buffalo wing.
“He likes her, too, I think.”
Ferric picked up a napkin and wiped his fingers as he chomped his chicken.
“He has to be better than the last one, right?” he asked.
The last one had been Douglas Denver Davenport, a complete head case who thought he was the heir to the throne of Hawaii. He’d spent significant time in jail and had printed and spread counterfeit money across the islands from the second bedroom of my mom’s house. I still had a sneaking suspicion that Ferric, whom Douglas had anointed as his crown prince, was disappointed to have lost a potential grandfather and this future throne.
“I’m not sure,” I said. I tried never to lie to Ferric.
“You know,” Ferric said, picking up a third wing, “I adore Grandma, but does she kinda…have crappy taste in men?”
“You can say that again.”
That made him laugh and I thought his now-orange teeth from the buffalo sauce didn’t go so well with lavender.
I changed the subject. Lars was now dipping my mother in a series of dance moves guaranteed to give her a herniated disk.
“Ferric, as soon as we can, we’re going to leave here and get you a new Game Boy.”
“Oh, Dad, we don’t have to do that.” But I could tell he was pleased. I had no idea how Francois and I had landed such a sweet-natured teen, but since Ferric had come to live with us several weeks before, it seemed like we always had him in our lives. He fit in with us, loved our crazy friends and family and never once gave us smart talk about what his mother had or hadn’t allowed him to do back in Florida.
I had to admit, I also loved that he’d taken to calling me Dad. For some reason, it meant a lot to me. I loved Ferric already, as if he’d always been mine.
“Mingo!” I looked across the room and Benny Leonard was shuffling in too-big shoes toward us.
“My boyfriend Martin picked up the wrong pair for me, can you believe it?”
I wanted to roll my eyes. Had he come all the way over here to let us know he was now a deux? He gave a little finger wave to his man who waved back and disappeared into the crowd.
“He’s hopeless at shoe sizes, but sooo good at other things.” Benny let out a laugh that sounded like a donkey bray.
“Yeah?” Ferric asked. “Like what?”
He wore a benign expression on his face, but Benny slapped his arm playfully.
“I’ll tell you when you’re a few years older. Say, you’re gonna be home in time for gold next Friday with my dad, right?”
Ferric glanced at me.
“Yes,” I said.
“Great. Because he’s sore as hell about missing his golf game this week. How do I look?”
He straightened his crooked bowtie which went crooked right away again and before I could respond, zoomed off in his silly shoes. He skidded back to me.
“Weird how much Martin looks like Kaolin, right?”
He slid away again and I felt Francois’ big arm move around Ferric and me as he came to join us.
“What’s going on?” He kissed my head.
“I just told Ferric we’d replace his Game Boy as soon as we leave.”
Francois nodded. “Absolutely. I have a taste for Chinese food for some reason.”
“So do we,” I said. “I really want some fried rice and egg rolls.”
“I want Peking duck,” Ferric said, reaching for another buffalo wing.
Dang, the kid and I had some kind of telepathic food craving thing going on. I’d noticed this with Francois, but it delighted me that Ferric tuned into the foodie wavelength, too.
“No problem,” Francois said. “I’ll ask Lars where we can find some good eats. Ferric, I want you to stay close to him and Grandma for a few minutes.”
“Why?”
“I’m taking Mingo to the men’s room for a little…talk.”
Ferric grinned. “I’m so sorry I asked.”
“You can hold my taser,” Francois said. “In fact, I’d feel better if you did. As soon as we get back to Hawaii, I’m teaching you both some good, defensive moves.”
“Dad was fantastic,” Ferric said. “He stayed calm. He did exactly what they said.” Ferric’s face went soft. “He told them not to hurt me. He looked after me.”
Francois’ face went through a myriad of emotions. “That’s why I love him, son.”
The music changed and Mom and Lars started kicking up their heels on the dance floor.
We all watched them for a moment.
“If Lars acts inappropriate with my favorite lady, I might use the taser,” Ferric said and walked toward my jitterbugging mom.
I felt the increase of pressure from Francois on my arm. He steered me to the men’s room and into one of the elegant stalls. Heck, the men’s rooms here were nicer than most of our house back in Oahu.
“Do you know how much I want you?” I asked Francois as he slammed me up against the wall of the stall.
Passion flared in his eyes.
“Show me.”
It was hard to move with my entire body jammed against the wall, but
I started with some tongue dancing, kissing him in earnest. He responded to my kisses, his tongue all over mine. I clung to him, feeling safer than I had since I’d gotten out of our bed that morning. He always made me feel safe. I got a flash of the gunman’s weapon in my face and blocked the image. With my body immobile, my hands were free to roam under my lover’s Aloha shirt. His skin was warm and soft. I stroked his nipples and I felt his breath catching in his throat as he kissed me.
I undid his shirt buttons and he released me long enough to let me undo the fly of his new black wedding pants. He wore the black boxer briefs I’d picked out for him that morning. His massive cock jutted to the right, straining the fabric. I grinned. The word Mingo was stitched in red across the piss flap. I liked knowing that raging cock was all mine.
Pushing the underpants down, I bent, greeting his cock with my lips. He stood, legs splayed, arms against the wall, as I frisked his cock, crouched between his pooled pants. Somebody came into the stall beside us and took an extra-long piss. We tried not to make any noise, but I’m not the quietest cocksucker in the world and this was the cock I loved. I slurped on my man with gusto. The guy next door paused.
“Jesus Christ,” he said and shuffled out of the stall.
“I think that was Mele’s father,” Francois said, making me laugh around his cock.
“Get up, Mingo.”
He helped me to my feet, my mouth slick with his juices.
“I want you to come in my mouth,” I said.
He opened his mouth in protest, but my lips closed around his right nipple and his head went back in pleasure.
I went back to work on his cock. Its head was spongy, sweet, the shaft rigid and yet, satiny. I could have sucked him all day, but the moment I sneaked my hand between his balls, letting the pads of my fingertips massage his ball sac, he started to hump my head.
“Oh, Mingo, Mingo, Mingo!”
He shot down my throat like a cannon. I kept him in my mouth, pleased to have brought him such joy. I released him, smiling up at him.
And to think that until he met me, Francois had been a toilet-sex virgin.