Zero to 165

by A. R. Moler

  Mason grinned and flung the ink pen in his hand at Cam. "I ski very well, thank you very much. I grew up in Pennsylvania. My parents put me on skis about as soon as I could walk."

  Cam gave him a thoughtful look. "That's the first time I've heard you say anything remotely positive about your parents."

  "Mmm, well, I guess nobody can manage to fuck up everything…" Mason replied. He usually avoided mention of his family at all. There were a lot of very bitter memories involved. "Anyway, I found a place near Ski Liberty that could maybe rent us a cabin for four days and include a lift ticket package. I have skis and gear, but we could rent you some. The cabin has a fireplace and it's less than a ten minute drive to the mountain."

  "If I fall down the mountain on my ass, I expect you to kiss it better."

  "I will happily kiss any part of your anatomy."

  "See about availability and I'll put in for leave," said Cam.

  ***

  "Go! Go! Run damn it!" Cam yelled at the TV. He glanced away from the football game on the screen for a moment as Mason flopped down on the sofa beside him.

  "Who's playing?"

  "It's the Army-Navy game. And we're losing! At least it's not even halftime yet."

  "You have money on this game?"

  "Nah, just my honor. Peter Vithoulkas was Army before he went full time with Division P. He'll undoubtedly send me some snarky text if we lose."

  Mason shook his head and pulled a big bottle of lotion out from under the sofa. He squirted out a generous blob on to one hand.

  Cam raised an eyebrow, wondering if Mason had some intention of using that for nefarious purposes. Mason simply began to rub it into his hands. "What exactly are you doing?" asked Cam.

  "What does it look like?"

  "You're using hand lotion."

  "Bingo."

  "Uh, why?"

  Mason gave him a little frown. "How many times a day do you wash your hands?"

  "I don't know, maybe four or five times." He failed to see what connection that had to the lotion.

  "At work I often wash mine fifteen to twenty times a day. I scrub for surgery two or three days a week. In the winter especially, if I don't do this, the skin on my hands will literally crack and bleed."

  The idea hadn't occurred to Cam. His focus was drawn back to the game for a few minutes but Mason's actions eventually attracted his attention again. "Need some help?"

  "If you like."

  Cam picked up the bottle where it lay against Mason's leg and squeezed out some more lotion. He began rubbing it into the long slender fingers of Mason's right hand, feeling the faint background thrum of Mason's energy. He absently studied the knuckles and the blunt, close clipped nails. It wasn't a pretty hand; it was obviously male and Cam knew those hands could wield sandpaper or a hammer as easily as a scalpel. He also knew what those hands felt like on damn near every inch of his body. He took hold of Mason's left hand. The palm was broad and creased by the usual lines. As Cam rubbed his thumb across the center of Mason's palm, spreading the lotion toward Mason's wrist. Mason's fingers flexed and Cam glanced at his partner's face. Mason's lips were parted and his pupils blown wide. Cam could sense a change in tone in his lover's energy.

  Mystified by the arousal displayed by his lover, Cam racked his brain for why something so relatively simple and innocent would be a turn-on. Mason shifted on the sofa a little as Cam continued massaging the lotion into his hands. He knew that fidget too well, that feeling where your jeans are too tight because you're already half hard.

  Mason's hands were warm in his own, not the level of heat Cam felt if Mason was actively healing him, but still warmer than average. Cam rubbed his thumb across the back of Mason's knuckles, pressing his fingertips into Mason's palm. That center spot drew him, and Cam's memory offered up some information Division P had imparted about chakras and how psi nervous system could be more sensitive in some areas than others. Suddenly it was all falling into place in his head. Everything Mason did revolved around his hands, from the surgery to the healing to the woodwork. The man had to be hard wired for maximum input and output through his hands.

  Cam stood up just enough to slide his leg behind where Mason was sitting, and pulled Mason back into the vee of his legs. Mason made a faint sound of puzzlement.

  "I'm just making this a little easier," Cam said. He kissed the side of Mason's neck and reached around Mason's body to pick up his right hand again. A little more lotion, long smooth strokes down the length of Mason's fingers and back across his knuckles and palm, and Mason's breathing was uneven.

  "You are absolutely wrecked," Cam teased, whispering in Mason's ear.

  "Oh God… don't stop…" Mason begged.

  "Are you gonna blow without me ever touching your cock?"

  "M-maybe…"

  Cam nibbled at the side of Mason's neck, sucking, kissing, licking enough to raise a noticeable mark, caressing Mason's hands all the while. Mason's breath was all pants and gulps now, his shielding gone. Cam let what little shielding he kept up by habit only around Mason fall open. His own fingers skimmed Mason's right palm, following the sheer intensity of vibration along that path that connected fingertips and the center of the hand. It was just a bit like the pull of finding but far more intimate.

  Mason's body shuddered as he made a harsh moan, and Cam felt the bright wash of pleasure echoing from his lover. Mason sagged limply back against Cam's body, head lolling on Cam's shoulder.

  "I'm gonna make you do my laundry," said Mason, mock snarling.

  Cam snickered and kissed Mason slowly, tongue delving into Mason's open mouth. "After the game. Third quarter just started."

  Mason punched him in the leg.

  Chapter 6

  The drive to the ski resort in Pennsylvania wasn't exactly turning out to be a magnificent way to start their weekend. Mason was seriously regretting agreeing to let Cam do the driving. Despite the fact they'd traveled together under a number of different work related circumstances, this was the first time they'd been together in a car for more than an hour. Obviously Cam thought he was behind the stick of his jet.

  "Will you please just pick a fucking lane and stick with it?" Mason blurted out.

  "What? Why? They're going too slow."

  "Do you realize you have changed lanes something like twenty times in the past five miles?"

  "So?" Cam pulled around a boat that was being towed by a pickup.

  Mason winced at the sharp maneuver. "What's so God damn important about being in front of the boat on the trailer?"

  "I don't want to be behind him."

  Mason managed to keep his mouth shut for the next half an hour, trying not to grimace at his partner's fast aggressive driving. "Did it ever occur to you that 95 is a route number and not a speed suggestion?"

  Cam stuck his tongue out at Mason.

  ***

  The cabin did actually look pretty much like the picture on the website. Getting out of the car, Mason pulled a folded sheet of paper from the pocket of his ski jacket and looked at the instructions for accessing the lock box for the cabin. His breath was a cloud of steam in the cold air. Cam came around the car.

  "So how do we get in?" Cam asked.

  "It's kind of like one of those realtor box things. I have a number to put into the key pad and then the box opens and there's supposed to be keys inside." Mason walked to the door. It took him two tries because he missed putting in a number the first go round.

  The door opened into a cozy den/kitchen combination and there were a couple of doors at the back of the area that Mason assumed led to a bedroom and bathroom. Although it was warmer inside the cabin than outside, it definitely didn't feel like it was apt to be comfortable with his coat off.

  "I'm really hoping this place has a heating system besides the fireplace," Mason said.

  Cam had come in behind him and was starting to look around the room. "There's a laminated sheet here on the counter with instructions for the thermostat and the oven and a couple
other things." Cam picked up the sheet and walked toward the controller on the wall. "It says that they leave it set at fifty degrees between rentals and that it will take a couple of hours to warm up."

  "I noticed that there's a whopping big stack of wood on the porch. I'm hoping that's for ambiance and not a commentary on the efficiency of said heating system, especially since I was planning on spending at least a little part of Christmas Eve unwrapping you."

  "Mmm, I guess that could be a little nippy if it stays fifty degrees in here."

  They hauled luggage and Mason's ski gear in from the car. The cabin's temperature only crept up about two degrees. Mason decided to make a run for provisions back to the small grocery store they'd passed about six or seven miles away. Cam volunteered to build a fire in the fireplace, hoping to speed up the warming process in the cabin.

  ***

  I am such a techno-dependent junkie, thought Cam as he fired up his laptop while he sat cross-legged on the floor. The fire was blazing fairly well at this point and finally beginning to take the edge off the chill of the cabin. Yeehah for wireless internet access via his cell phone hot spot. He hit a favorite news website and the letters DADT caught his eye.

  Scrolling down through the article, Cam felt like his blood was bubbling. The President had signed the repeal. DADT was dead. As a Naval officer, he could no longer be forcibly discharged for being sexually involved with another man. He swallowed hard. It was real. It had actually gone though. Granted there were undoubtedly going to be months of weirdness and bureaucratic bullshit yet to wade through but suddenly the ability to spend his life openly loving Mason was one step closer.

  Behind him he heard the door open, and Mason came into the cabin carrying a pair of grocery bags.

  "Steak and beer acquired, and some other stuff too," Mason said.

  Getting up off the floor, Cam managed to wait until Mason had set the bags on the counter of the kitchenette before he grabbed Mason and pulled him into a hard passionate kiss.

  "Are you really that excited about dinner?" Mason asked as they parted for air.

  "You should have bought champagne."

  "Why? Because it's the holidays?"

  "No, 'cause it passed!"

  "What passed?"

  "The DADT repeal. Obama signed it. It's over. Realistically it'll take a while for the powers that be to change the paperwork and all, but it's done. DADT is dead."

  Mason's eyes widened and he grinned at Cam. "I had hoped. But the government is so famous for screwing things up. Wow. I'm floored. Just… wow…" He yanked Cam into a nearly rib crushing hug that turned into a long passionate kiss.

  ***

  The following morning started with renting boots and a snowboard for Cam.

  "One foot goes in the binding. Leave the other one free for now so you can push off," said Mason. Cam dubiously locked his foot into one of the slots on the snowboard. It felt weirdly constricting.

  "How do I steer? 'Cause I'd really like to avoid hitting anything," asked Cam.

  "It's lots of knee bending and either pushing down with your toes or your heels. I never really liked the whole both feet on one board thing."

  Cam started to lift the second foot and place it on the board, but the board shot forward. He flailed as his legs were yanked into a straddle split and he landed on his ass.

  Mason chuckled.

  "This is not exactly an auspicious start," groused Cam, floundering his way back to his feet.

  It was a long cold afternoon with an uncountable number of wipeouts.

  ***

  "Damn! I'm about frozen!" said Cam, clomping into the main building with Mason behind him. The place was partially filled with people in sweaters and other cold weather gear. Several eating places lined the edges of the huge room in the manner of a food court.

  "Get me a cup of coffee. I have to hit the bathroom," replied Mason.

  Cam ordered two cups from a kiosk in the corner and went to sit at one of the long tables in the middle of the space. Moments later a petite, dark haired woman plopped down into the seat next to him.

  "The wind is really starting to pick up," she said.

  "Mmm yeah, I figured I better thaw out before I even consider another attack on the slopes."

  She unzipped her sweater and he noted the very nice view of her cleavage.

  Cam gave her a little smile. "Are you from Pennsylvania?" he asked.

  "Maryland. I came up with some old college friends. You?"

  "Virginia Beach, at least currently." It was his standard response given the hopping around that he'd done with the Navy.

  "Are you here by yourself?"

  "No, I have a buddy with me," Cam said, and then wanted to bite his tongue, because he realized that she might think he was available. She was hot, he had to admit, but an admiring look and a little conversation was all she was ever going to get from him.

  Mason pulled out the chair on the opposite side of him and sat down. "Which one's mine?" he asked, pointing at the pair of cups.

  Cam noticed he had a tight expression on his face, and wondered how much of the conversation Mason had observed. "That one," Cam replied. He could sense a kind of hurt sadness coming from Mason.

  ***

  It wasn't that Cam was talking to a woman that bothered Mason, it was the appreciative track of Cam's gaze over the ample set of breasts being shown off. Mason knew damn well Cam was bisexual and had been involved with a number of women during his life. Still… it stung a little to see the attraction.

  "Is this your friend?" the woman asked, smiling at Mason.

  "My partner," said Cam.

  "Oh? What kind of work do you do? Police?"

  "Not that kind of partner," said Cam. He took hold of Mason's hand and raised it to his mouth, kissing Mason's fingers. Mason was surprised; there were dozens of people in the large room.

  "Oh… well, have a nice time skiing," the woman said somewhat abruptly as she got up and walked away.

  "Mason…" Cam let go of Mason's hand and cupped Mason's face in both his hands. "I'm yours. A look at a nice set of boobs is just that, nothing more."

  "Sorry, I just…" Mason's eyes fell.

  Cam leaned in and kissed him. Mason's breath hitched. Cam had never kissed him in a public place before.

  "No more hiding," said Cam. "I'm sorry. Would it have been better or worse if I had checked out some guy's ass?"

  Mason looked down at the table top, not sure he wanted to look in Cam's eyes. "I don't know. Better… maybe, but … Tits and soft curves aren't something I can give you. That sounds lame doesn't it?"

  "You give me what I want. The girl… she's just pretty scenery. Look at me, please."

  Mason raised his gaze back to Cam's face, feeling stupidly insecure.

  "I love you, Mason. I love everything about you. I can't turn off the bisexual part of my brain that likes to look at women, but I have complete control over ever doing anything about it."

  Mason could feel Cam flinging open his psychic shielding, leaving himself open and vulnerable to the large number of people in the building. He leaned in and placed another kiss on Mason's lips. This one was slow and carried a deep serious emotion with it.

  "Are we okay?" Cam murmured.

  "I'll…Yeah, we're okay." If Cam was willing to kiss him in public, Mason could find it in himself to believe the sincerity of his lover's commitment.

  ***

  Going back to the car at the end of the afternoon involved a tromp down the hill past three acres of parked cars. Some had snow piled on roofs and bumpers. Cam was walking about a half dozen steps ahead of Mason and the temptation was too great. Mason scooped a big handful of snow off the next car he passed and flung it at Cam. It hit Cam in the back of the head with a fluffy explosion of white.

  Cam whirled around. "I can't believe you just did that! You are so going to pay!" He jammed his hand in the nearest snow bank and hurled a snowball back at Mason. In the next five seconds it was war. They ran around
between cars in the lot, throwing snowballs and acting like a couple of ten year olds.

  A flying tackle by Mason sent both of them rolling into a tall drift along one side of the lot and Cam stuffed a handful of snow down the back of Mason's jacket. Mason yelped at the icy coldness and retaliated with a glob down the front of Cam's pants. Cam let out a squeal worthy of a teenage girl.

  "Fuck! You are so doomed!" Cam yelled. And they were up and running again.

  Finally winded, wet and cold, they gathered up the ski gear that Mason had dropped during the snowball fight and got in the car.

  "I feel like a popsicle," Cam lamented with a grin.

  "I think a long, hot shower sounds like a plan."

  It was only a short drive back to the cabin. In the bedroom they peeled out of layers of damp, icy clothing and left it heaped on the floor for the moment.

  "Ab-b-out that sh-shower …" said Cam, teeth chattering.

  "I'll go turn on the water. Grab the electric blanket controller and flick it over to something medium. I think some serious undercover snuggling should be in order after we thaw out."

  Mason grabbed towels from the shelves in the bathroom and set them on the edge of the sink while the shower began to fog the air a bit. Cam came into the bathroom and shut the door.

  "It might get pretty steamy in here," said Mason.

  "Right now, steam is sounding like a very good idea."

  Mason stepped under the hot spray. His skin was cold enough that the heat was painful for a few moments. Cam joined him and Mason stepped sideways, leaning against the tiled wall so Cam could share the water.

  "So what's the verdict on snowboarding?" Mason asked.

  "I suck. Big time."

  "I've been told it has a pretty steep learning curve. Regular skiing is a little more intuitive. I think it's because your feet are going in the normal direction."

  "Nothing ventured, nothing gained," Cam quoted.

  Mason smiled. He ran a hand down Cam's arm and pulled him close. "It's Christmas eve."

  "And there's no tree."

  "It doesn't matter. I've got exactly what I want tonight." Mason kissed Cam softly.

  They spent a leisurely number of minutes under the hot water, thawing out. A quick dry was followed by a dive under the already warm blankets.