by J. M. Colail
Her eyes were wide and her face was shining. Lucas could tell she was genuinely happy with her life now. Maybe she was telling the truth; maybe she had forgiven them? Lucas was still not entirely comfortable though. Only time would tell if he could ever forgive her.
The tenuous mood was broken when they both looked up as the front door opened.
JACK WALKED in the door of his apartment to be met, as usual, by the excited chant of his name. He would never get enough of being greeted by AnnElise’s voice ringing through the house. The door had barely closed and he was still holding his keys when she sprinted right into his arms, giving him a big hug and a smacker. No matter how tired he was after a day’s work, she could always make him smile. She told him about Emile and Charlie being there and Jack smiled as he knew all too well who was boss in that playgroup.
He put his keys in the small bowl on the hallway cabinet and was hanging up his coat when AnnElise gave him a teasing smile. “There’s a girl to see you.” She giggled, obviously thinking that was a funny idea. “Her name is Maria.”
He felt his heart stop. Poor Lucas. He could only hope Maria was nice to him.
Then his lover called out, “We’re in the kitchen!” It didn’t sound strained or too desperate. Maybe she had only just arrived?
With a “Why don’t you go and play?” he sent AnnElise off to her boys again and walked over to the kitchen with a constricted feeling in his chest.
To his surprise, Lucas was sitting on the counter and Maria was leaning against the kitchen cabinets on the other side, both were drinking tea and smiling as they conversed animatedly. Maybe his apprehension was unnecessary?
Jack greeted Maria first with a kiss on the cheek and then realized he was uncomfortable kissing Lucas in front of her. He hesitated momentarily, and then saw in Lucas’s face that he had felt it too. Damn! Why did she still intimidate him?
The atmosphere in the kitchen cooled a few degrees and Jack made his escape, telling Maria, “Listen, I’ll just change my clothes, and we’ll be ready to leave in about ten minutes, okay?”
LATER THAT night, Lucas went to bed early. Looking after three kids between the ages of five and three after a busy work day was tiring enough, but the additional stress of Maria arriving early and Jack’s awkward response to her presence made it an exhausting evening indeed.
He’d noticed that Jack had hesitated kissing him on the mouth as was usual when he came home. Lucas didn’t take it personally, since he hadn’t been entirely comfortable with the situation either, but he wanted to know if it was just a matter of Jack feeling strange about being in a room with the only two people he’d had a serious relationship with, or whether there was something more to it.
Lucas shook his head and told himself there was no reason to doubt Jack’s commitment to him. Really. Then why had things been so weird all of a sudden? Why had Jack disappeared into their bedroom and reappeared only minutes later, in different clothes, only to whisk Maria out of the kitchen and off to dinner in the city?
He turned off the light and snuggled under the duvet, knowing full well he wouldn’t sleep until Jack was home even though there was no reason to be jealous. Jack had left Maria, gotten a divorce and changed his whole life around, at a time when Lucas wasn’t even a part of that life. So why was he doubting Jack now?
He heard the front door open and the familiar clinking of Jack placing his keys in the small bowl. He could tell Jack was being careful not to wake up anyone and moments later heard him come stealthily into their bedroom, undress and slip underneath the covers.
In the darkness Lucas turned to face his lover.
“I didn’t mean to wake you,” Jack whispered.
“You didn’t. I couldn’t sleep,” Lucas answered. “How was dinner?”
“Okay, I guess. Nice to talk to her again.”
Lucas could hear the hesitation in Jack’s voice so he moved closer and put his arms around his lover. “It’s okay, Jack. You’re allowed to enjoy catching up with an old friend, as long as it’s just that.” He sighed as he realized it sounded like the little green devil of jealousy was rearing its ugly head, so he added, “I know I can trust you, Jack.”
Jack snuggled up close in his arms and kissed him tenderly.
“Damn! You had Thai food without me?” Lucas teased.
“How do you always do that?” Jack asked and Lucas could tell he was smiling, although it was too dark to see.
“It’s the coconut milk and the lemongrass and the touch of coriander.”
“You can taste all that?” Jack teased back.
“And more,” Lucas answered as he pulled Jack even closer and all the feelings of jealousy waned to be replaced by something much nicer.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“OH, I almost forgot,” Lucas said as he watched Jack bend over the table to wipe it, thereby finishing off the after dinner chores, “There’s a letter for you. Big envelope, expensive paper, calligraphic handwriting and addressed only to Mr. Jack Christensen.”
Jack threw him the wet cloth and walked into the hallway to retrieve the letter. As he returned to the living room, he opened it and read the formal invitation.
“Stacey’s getting married. You remember her? My Junior Protocol Officer? In Antwerp, no less. And we’re invited. Wanna go?” Jack asked while he was still reading.
“It’s only addressed to you,” Lucas answered sheepishly as he retreated to the kitchen, closely followed by Jack.
“It says Mr. Jack Christensen and partner,” Jack rebutted as he wrapped his arms around Lucas, pushing him against the counter.
“That could be anyone,” Lucas pouted, knowing Jack would fall straight into his trap.
“As I recall, I only have one partner.” he kissed Lucas’s hair, “boyfriend,” and his neck, “lover.”
“Will you two do that in your own room? Kids can just walk into this kitchen, you know.” AnnElise was standing in the kitchen, her hands on her hips. She turned, grabbed a can of Coke Light from the fridge and exited before the two men, in each other’s arms, could respond.
“Did we miss something? When did our daughter turn into a teenager?” Lucas asked, his mouth slightly open as he watched the little girl sashay out of the room.
“Last time I looked she was still six. She’s reading me bedtime stories now, but she still wants to be tucked in,” Jack answered, also rather baffled by AnnElise’s cocky remark.
“You think we should say something?” Lucas asked, raising his eyebrows.
“Naah, let it go,” Jack chuckled. “She’ll be worse when we get back from this wedding after she’s been at Liz’s for a week. I swear that hands-on-hips gesture is vintage Liz.”
SIX WEEKS later, they arrived in the Antwerp Hilton for Stacey’s wedding.
When they had called her to RSVP, she had explained that everything had been arranged, including hotel rooms the night before and after the wedding for all the friends and family flying in from all over the world.
When the receptionist handed them the keycard and announced that they had been given one of the executive suites, Jack turned to Lucas. “Luke, did you…?”
Lucas gave him an innocent look and shook his head.
The suite was the same room that held such special memories for both of them. After the porter had been given a tip and left, Jack looked at Lucas.
“Well, if you didn’t arrange this, then who did?” Jack asked, casually taking off his jacket. “I’m pretty sure Stacey didn’t know about what happened in this room almost exactly seven years ago, Luke.”
Lucas finished closing the drapes and shot across the room to Jack, throwing himself at his lover with such force they both ended up on the bed. “Happy anniversary, lover,” Lucas moaned into Jack’s mouth.
They kissed passionately, freeing themselves from most of their clothes and grinding their growing bulges against each other.
“The car will be here in about thirty minutes,” Jack gasped as he came up for air, “to p
ick us up so I can get fitted for my dress suit.”
“Fuck the car,” Lucas answered, clearly desperate, as he pulled Jack closer to him again.
“Luke, we won’t have time for a shower afterwards, if we….”
Jack watched in awe as Lucas turned around on the bed with a feral gleam in his eye. At the same time that he felt his young lover’s hot mouth over his still clothed cock, he got Lucas’s crotch pushed in his face. They were both panting; it would be over in a manner of minutes and it wasn’t like he was going to be able to hold back anyway. Or wanted to, for that matter.
This was hunger and nostalgia. In this room, Lucas had shown him there was no way back, that he couldn’t go on denying the feelings he had pushed aside most of his life.
Even now, after seven years, he still loved the taste of Lucas’s leaking cock in his mouth and the feel of Lucas’s mouth on his. He loved how what he was doing to this young man was making them both moan, loudly, sending the vibrations through their groins, making Lucas emulate the exact same motions, returning the little licks and gestures, the hungry sucking, until they were both bucking and thrusting into each other’s mouths.
Lucas came first and Jack strained to look down to see Lucas’s face, contorted with pleasure, as he tasted his white, hot cum filling his throat. Jack swallowed eagerly, feeling Lucas thrust out the waves of pleasure, then Lucas took his mouth from Jack’s swollen cock, only to grab it with both hands, stroking it with surprising coordination.
The sight of his sated young lover, still trying to hold on enough to make him come, made the tingling feeling in his groin rise. He thrust hard into Lucas’s hands and felt his orgasm overtake him as Lucas lazily opened his mouth to take the head in.
After a few moments of panting, Lucas crawled up, a lazy smile on his face as he moved closer to deeply kiss Jack, mixing up all the tastes in their mouths. Jack could still feel the aftershocks in his own body and the sensitivity of Lucas’s as he stroked him so soon after their rushed climax. It was no surprise that they had time to spare before the car would come to pick them up.
Jack and Lucas chuckled with high spirits as they brushed their teeth together in front of the large bathroom mirror. Lucas had taken a quick shower and put on some jeans and Jack had gotten up from the bed only after Lucas dressed, fearing that if they took a shower together they would never leave the room. Now he too was freshly showered and they would be out of the door in a few minutes.
THE FOLLOWING morning Jack woke to the sound of someone banging loudly on the door. Lucas was sprawled all over him and he moved carefully so as not to wake the young man. When he checked the alarm clock by the side of the bed, it was 7:30.
Who would be knocking on their door this early? The wedding didn’t start until ten o’clock, right?
He quickly pulled one of the complimentary white bathrobes around his naked body and went to the door. As he glanced at the bed he saw Lucas’s deliciously naked body lying face down on the mattress. Quickly, he threw the covers over him before opening the door.
What he saw made him chuckle.
“Stacey? You okay, honey?”
Stacey stood in the doorway wrapped in a pink bathrobe with curlers in her hair and no makeup. She was in a panic, something Jack had not seen before.
“One of my groomsmen stood me up!” she sulked pushing past Jack into the hotel room.
She covered her mouth with her hand like a child that has uttered a bad word. “I didn’t interrupt anything, I hope?”
Jack gave her a toothy smile. “No, Stacey, he’s sound asleep. And so was I, but what’s your problem?”
“Well, Roy’s brother, who’s supposed to be his best man, got held up in Bahrain because of some diplomatic incident there. Now his best friend is here, so he can take over as best man, but that leaves me one groomsman short. You think Lucas could sub?”
She barely took a breath while telling Jack about this crisis.
“Sure, I don’t see why not,” Jack answered. “He doesn’t have the right suit though and I’m sure you want us all to look the same?”
“Be right back,” she told him, holding up her index finger before she sped down the hallway to her suite.
Moments later she was back, holding a hanger covered in see-through plastic. “Let him try this. If it doesn’t fit, call the number on the plastic wrap and tell them it’s an emergency.”
Jack chuckled as he accepted the suit and watched Stacey run back down the corridor. He hung the bag on the coat rack and went back to the bed where Lucas was still sleeping. As he sat carefully on the edge, he let his hand wander under the covers, where he found Lucas’s smooth soft skin. His lover moaned as Jack lightly stroked the back of Lucas’s thigh, moving up toward his buttocks and the part of his lower back that sloped down in between the dimples. Lucas’s skin felt warm from sleeping and he couldn’t get enough of the smooth silken feeling.
“Lemme sleep some more,” Lucas mumbled as he pulled the covers over his head. Jack lay down next to Lucas, who was now engulfed in sheets and blankets, and pulled the young man tightly in his arms.
“I have a feeling I can persuade you to get up,” Jack teasingly tried to coax him.
“Noooo,” Lucas sulked, keeping his eyes closed, “’s too early.”
“No, it’s not. We’ll miss breakfast.”
“Don’t care.”
Jack slowly tried to get his hand to find a way under the covers. “The wedding starts in two hours, we have to shower, get dressed into these nice grey suits and then walk over to the town hall. We’ll never make it at this rate.”
“You have to get dressed in a nice suit.” the Brit moaned as he snuggled up closer to Jack, who was now rubbing his lover’s stomach.
“You too. Stacey just brought a suit for you,” Jack teased as he moved his hand from Lucas’s stomach to his hips, carefully avoiding his groin area.
“She did?” Lucas asked, still keeping his eyes closed, but moving his body in the general direction of Jack’s hand. “One of those nice grey ones like you tried on yesterday?”
“Yes,” Jack murmured, burying his face in Lucas’s neck, teasingly biting his shoulder.
When Lucas snuggled in closer, clearly having no intention of getting up, Jack started tickling him, soon making him break out in hysterical laughter.
Two hours later they would be rushing to get ready, just as Jack had predicted.
Fits of giggles and a ferocious tickling, followed by a pillow fight had ended up with Jack pushed face first into the door leading to the bathroom. Lucas had apologized for his roughness, but only half seriously.
“You’re asking for it, Jack; you do realize it, don’t you?” Lucas asked.
Not easily put off, Jack simply answered. “You’re just happy that we don’t have a daughter here who can listen in.”
Lucas pulled down the plush white bathrobe that only just hung on Jack’s shoulders and pressed his body against his lover’s. “All the more reason to make you moan so loud that Stacey’s going to be banging on that door again, asking what the hell I think I’m doing to you.”
“Fuck,” was all Jack could mutter.
“You think so?” Lucas asked teasingly as he offered two fingers for Jack to lick. “Better make them nice and slippery, because that’s all the lube I have right here.”
Jack took his time, tasting the slight saltiness of Lucas’s slender fingers. He could tell Lucas was growing a little impatient, rubbing against his back, still he didn’t rush. The young Brit was clearly getting aroused, but nowhere near as much as Jack. As Lucas placed his left hand flat on Jack’s stomach, Jack realized he was glad he had the door to lean against. He moved his legs apart a little and opened his mouth to let out a low groan as one of Lucas’s saliva covered fingers breach him roughly. They were so used to being quiet, always keeping in the back of their minds that just a few doors away, their daughter was sleeping. Only now they were half a world away from her and Jack didn’t care who heard them a
s he felt the burn of Lucas’s second finger subside and sheer ecstasy took over.
Lucas knew his lover’s body well, knew just how much roughness Jack could take. He also knew he could get Jack off with just his fingers, but that they didn’t dare do this with AnnElise in the other room, since all that twisting and pumping of his fingers made for a very loud response from his lover. Jack moaned with every movement, and this sent all Lucas’s blood rushing to his cock. He curled his fingers slightly and brushed over the most sensitive area of his lover’s body, making Jack shudder.
“Fuck, Luke!” Jack shouted as his breathing became ragged. Lucas pushed him against the door with more force, and then touched his sweet spot again, knowing that Jack’s knees would give out eventually. Lucas felt his lover’s stomach muscles contract and the ring around his fingers tighten. Jack was moaning almost constantly as Lucas stopped moving his hand and let the American set the pace, thrusting back onto Lucas’s fingers and sending himself over the edge after just a few moves.
Lucas wrapped his arms around Jack and supported him as he slowly sank to the floor. He crawled on top of him and kissed him passionately, rubbing his own leaking cock against Jack’s slippery stomach.
“You’re not done yet,” Jack whispered against Lucas’s mouth.
“Want to watch me come?” the younger man asked seductively.
Jack nodded. “Always.” He caressed Lucas’s thighs as the Brit righted himself, then watched Lucas’s teasing face as the young man stroked his cock with long determined pulls. Jack loved to watch Lucas pleasure himself, loved how he bit his lower lip, trying not to make too much noise.