“One hour past your bedtime, then it’s lights out.” Jerry backed up toward the door, pulling David along with him. “And I don’t want you filling up the hard drive with those violent video games. You play those downstairs on the TV like usual, okay?”
David noted that William’s attention was fully on the screen now, his little hands working the keyboard and the mouse frantically, as if he’d been without a computer for far too long. Jerry repeated himself, and William turned and nodded, insisting that he’d heard his dad the first time.
David and Jerry now found themselves on the other side of the half-open door. “You realize, of course, that we’re going to get the ‘just five more minutes’ thing again, just as we did with the cell phone. You know that, right?” Jerry’s voice was a mere whisper, but still filled with a weary anticipation of things to come.
“I’ll take that bet.” David led Jerry to their bedroom. “And if I win, I know what my prize will be.”
“Sometimes I think I take these bets just so I can be the loser.” Jerry slapped David’s ass as they quickened their pace and closed the door behind them.
Chapter 3
“I WIN again.” Jerry held up the game controller in his hand and imitated the roar of a crowd while he bowed his head over and over.
“I like playing with David better; he doesn’t cheat.” William jabbed his father in the ribs and tried to run away, but Jerry caught him by the tail of his pajama shirt and pulled him onto his lap.
“What was that?” Jerry let his big hand hover over his son’s belly, ready to unleash the tickle monster. “Did you just call me a cheater?”
“No,” William giggled and clasped both of his hands around his father’s wrist in a vain attempt to forestall the inevitable. “I think you need to have your ears checked.”
“Oh, no,” Jerry whispered while he looked at his hovering hand. “Now you’ve upset it. You know it doesn’t like it when you say things like that.”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” William pleaded as he pushed as hard as he could on the hand that was descending toward his stomach.
Jerry felt the hands on his shoulders and tried to stay sitting cross-legged, but before he knew what was happening, he was flat on his back watching David and William trying to hold him down, both of them giggling as if they thought they’d gotten the better of him.
“Should we show him what happens to cheaters?” David asked as he looked over at William.
“Not the mark of the cheater!” Jerry pretended to be afraid.
“Yeah,” William squealed in delight, pushing Jerry’s T-shirt up a few inches so that he could place a couple of quick slaps against the skin of his father’s stomach. “The mark of the cheater!”
“Oh, please, kind sirs, I promise never to cheat again.” Jerry wriggled and pleaded, but to no avail.
“Dad, your tummy’s getting jiggly like J-ELLO.”
“What?” Jerry lifted his head and craned his neck to see the red palm prints. “I’m not fat!”
“That’s what happens when you eat two desserts every night.” David clucked his tongue and held up two fingers.
“Whose side are you on?” When he was free, Jerry sat up, then stood, lifting his T-shirt and trying his best not to look as if he was sucking in his gut. “See? Must have just been because I was lying down.”
“I don’t know,” David sighed and looked over at William. “What do you think William? Do you think your dad eats too many desserts?”
“Not enough exercise.” William stated matter-of-factly as he walked over and hugged his dad. “We still love you.”
“Thank you, William.” Jerry brushed his hand over William’s blond buzz cut. “Okay, so are you ready to get some sleep? We’ve got a big day tomorrow cleaning the barn and fixing some of those fence posts.” He narrowed his eyes and looked at David. “And apparently I’ve got some exercising to do.” Jerry watched, only slightly amused, as David threw up his hands as if to say, What did I do?
“And then we can go for a picnic by the lake?” William asked as he climbed the stairs ahead of David and Jerry.
“Maybe for dinner,” Jerry responded. “I don’t know that we’ll be done with everything by noon. Maybe by two or three in the afternoon.”
“And if not tomorrow, we’ll be sure to go on Sunday,” David said and turned to Jerry. “I’ll check to make sure everything’s locked up.”
Jerry glowered at David, delighting in the confused expression on his lover’s face. “I’m not speaking to you.”
David’s laughter filled the stairwell. “Big baby,” he muttered and headed to check the windows and doors.
Jerry followed William into his bedroom and waited for his son to crawl into bed. As he pulled the covers up to William’s chin, he nodded toward the computer. “Did you get a chance to send off the e-mails you wanted?”
“Uh huh,” William grunted as he pulled his arms out and let them fall by his sides, on top of the duvet. “It took me a while to remember how to do the German accents, but I figured it out.” William squinted at Jerry and then asked, “How many hours ahead in Switzerland?”
“If memory serves, cowboy, they’re eight hours ahead of us.”
“So then maybe I’ll have an e-mail when I wake up.” William turned on his side and pulled his little fists up under his chin.
“Maybe.” Jerry leaned down and kissed his son’s forehead. “Sweet dreams, cowboy. I love you.”
“I love you, too, Dad.”
“And I love both of you.” David braced himself with one hand on Jerry’s knee as he leaned down and kissed William’s forehead. “Sweet dreams, William.”
“G’night.” William’s eyes closed as he let go of a big yawn. “Hey, Dad?”
“What is it, chief?” Jerry turned to see William’s sleepy eyes looking at him.
“Do you think that I could invite Cory out after practice sometime next week?”
“Of course you can.” Jerry offered a smile and turned toward the door, almost reaching it before turning back to look at William. “Do you know if he can ride?”
“Dunno. I’ll ask him on Monday.”
“Don’t let the bedbugs bite.” Jerry flipped the light switch and stepped through the door, leaning against it once it was closed.
Jerry was still smiling when he reached the bedroom that he shared with David, his mind still not quite able to grasp sometimes that William would be in his life—and David would be in his life—forever. It was all a little overwhelming sometimes when he realized that he still had so much to learn. Like today’s discovery that William was around kids who would be tempting him with alcohol and drugs. How do parents do this when they have three or four kids?
He found David in the bathroom, already in the shower. He stripped quickly, letting his jeans and T-shirt fall in a pile beside the laundry hamper and reached out for the shower curtain, noticing his profile in the mirror. He squared his shoulders and brought his hands to his belly, wondering if he’d actually put on that much weight. My clothes still fit; they’re not getting tight or anything.
He laughed at how silly he was being. His hairline was receding, and he was noticing that his arms weren’t long enough to read the paper anymore, but neither of those bothered him as much as the thought that he might not be as trim and fit as he used to be. As he pulled back the shower curtain, he decided to start fixing this particular problem tomorrow. David was keeping trim and fit and sexy as hell, so the least he could do was keep up with his husband.
He reached out with his hands and caressed the soft skin of David’s back, smiling mischievously as he brought his hands around to the smaller man’s chest and stomach and pulled their bodies together, his cock already filling in anticipation.
“I thought you weren’t speaking to me.” David turned himself around in Jerry’s arms, his hands moving slowly to the cleft of his husband’s ass.
“Who said anything about talking?” Jerry waggled his eyebrows and brought their mouths together. H
e kissed David gently at first, his tongue darting out to tease and lick at the delicate skin of those full lips. He brought one hand up to cradle the back of his lover’s skull as his tongue went further into David’s mouth, his senses assaulted by the heat from the water and from their two tongues moving against each other.
He moaned and broke the kiss when he felt David take hold of both of their cocks and stroke them gently from root to tip. His head fell back as David’s long, slender fingers pinched and rolled his foreskin ever so gently. “Oh, David, yeah,” Jerry whispered, his eyes closed and his head reeling from the sensation. He felt their bodies slide together as David moved to his knees, taking the foreskin between his teeth and biting gently. Jerry had learned over the past several months that he never needed to ask for anything. David always seemed to know exactly what he wanted.
“Oh, sweet Jesus,” Jerry grunted as he felt David’s fingers slide between his cheeks and tap playfully at his hole. “Need to stop, baby. Wanna make love to you. In bed.”
Jerry felt their bodies sliding against one another again as David stood slowly. He wrapped his arms around the smaller man and took his time kissing and tasting his lover’s mouth. He squeezed David’s body against his own for a moment while his tongue traced a lazy trail from the pouty mouth to an ear. He’d never experienced anything like the feeling he got when he kissed and licked at David’s ears; he felt like some sort of god, an all-powerful god who could reduce his beautiful husband to incoherent grunts and moans just by sucking on an earlobe or whispering nonsense into these ears.
So incredibly aroused by the sight of his panting and flushed lover, Jerry pulled away and turned off the water. Pulling back the shower curtain, he led David to the bed, their bodies still dripping. Jerry sat on the edge of the bed and brought David to his lap. Sparing a moment to reach and open the drawer of the nightstand in order to have the lube handy, Jerry then wrapped both of his arms around his lover’s trim waist and lowered both of their bodies to the mattress. With David still pressed against his chest and stomach, Jerry pushed David’s hips up and forward, his engorged cock finding its target right away.
David moaned and Jerry did it again and again, slowly, knowing that it would drive David crazy. After a few moments of teasing his lover’s entrance, Jerry reached for the lube and slicked himself, then breached David with first one finger and then two. “Like that?” Jerry asked through a knowing smile as he pushed his fingers farther and farther into his lover. “Nothing better than how you look when I fuck you, mountain lion.”
“Oh, Jerry, baby, I’m ready.”
Jerry let go and watched as David raised himself to a sitting position and lowered himself onto Jerry’s engorged cock. It had been only a month or so since they’d stopped using condoms, both of them having had negative test results for everything they could think of, but Jerry was still enraptured by the thought that nothing separated them anymore; it was skin against skin now, nothing in the way. Jerry shut his eyes and let his hands rest on David’s thighs as the contractions pulled and caressed his dick. “So fucking amazing, baby.”
“Oh, Jerry, baby,” David panted as his hands came to rest on either side of Jerry’s head. “Kiss me.”
Jerry did as he was told, knowing how much David loved to kiss as he was being fucked. As David leaned forward, the wet locks of hair dripping moisture, Jerry brought his feet up and braced them on the edge of the bed. Then, with his hands kneading and massaging his lover’s cheeks, Jerry began to increase his rhythm, his buttocks clenching as he pushed up and into David’s heat. He let his mouth and tongue match the intensity of his husband’s kisses, and soon they were both panting and writhing and moaning the other’s name.
When his thighs started to ache, Jerry slowed down and holding one hand at the small of David’s back, moved their bodies so that David was now on his back and Jerry was braced above him. He reached behind him and took hold of his lover’s ankles, bringing first one and then the other to rest on his shoulders. As he straightened his legs out behind him, Jerry heard David gasp and felt his lover’s hands squeeze his triceps. Jerry knew full well what this meant; this was the position they’d discovered only a few months ago that allowed Jerry to hit David’s prostate with every thrust. It was also one of the few positions that they’d tried where Jerry was able to make David come without either of them touching his dick.
“You ready, baby?” Jerry waited for the familiar panting and the breathless pleading, but all he could see was David rolling his head from side to side. His body prone as if he were about to do push ups, Jerry began slowly, his movements eliciting more panting and begging from the flushed man underneath him.
“Yes, right there,” David panted. “I’m gonna come, baby.”
Jerry felt the vise-like contraction and then heard the sharp intake of breath. “So beautiful, baby, so fucking unbelievable.” Jerry continued to thrust slowly, his own orgasm building quickly as he watched the waves of David’s orgasm. Jerry increased his speed slightly, knowing that he would not be able to last much longer. And when David reached up and began to massage his balls, Jerry drew in a sharp breath of his own and let go completely, grunting almost soundlessly as he emptied himself into his lover.
“Never get tired of that.” David reached up and stroked the sides of his husband’s face as Jerry lowered himself to lie beside the satiated body of his lover.
“Not too bad for a fat man, huh?” Jerry wrapped his arms around David and pulled him closer.
David let out a muted snort. “You’re not fat, baby.” David turned onto his side so that he was face to face with Jerry. “You’re absolutely perfect, just the way you are.”
“But?”
“No buts,” David said as he pressed his lips to Jerry’s. “Did it bother you what William said?”
“A little,” Jerry admitted truthfully. “But not because of the fat. I don’t want you losing interest in me, that’s all.”
David raised himself up on one elbow and looked down at his lover. “Seriously? You think I’d lose interest in you if you gained weight?”
“Wouldn’t you?”
“Jerry!” David pushed Jerry onto his back and then crawled on top of him. “When we’re making love, I’m not thinking about your body or how thin or fat it is.” He shook his head and stole a kiss. “You could be a whale, and I’d still be just as much in love with you.” David put a hand on Jerry’s chest. “It’s what’s in here that I’m making love to. The way you are with William, the way you’ve helped him grow and thrive. How attentive you are to me.” David shook his head and stole another kiss. “I fell in love with you because you’re the sweetest, kindest, most… everything I’ve ever met.”
“Good,” Jerry said as he accepted another kiss from David. “Because I love you too…, and the extra weight will be gone by the end of the month.”
Chapter 4
THE only thing William didn’t like about weekends was the end. He swung his legs over the side of his bed and wiggled his feet into his slippers, before rubbing his eyes and stretching his arms up as if he were a cat. He flexed and stretched his fingers and his toes, his legs going rigid as he fell back onto the mattress, feeling a little less sore, but still very tired. He hadn’t realized until this morning how much work he’d actually done on Saturday morning. Jerry and David had both had to come in several times each on Saturday morning to get William out of bed. It wasn’t that he wasn’t willing to help; in fact, he was always excited about spending time with Jerry and David. William especially loved the play fighting and how his dad and David would tease each other.
“William?”
“I’m up!” William rolled onto his side and pushed himself up into a sitting position. He wasn’t surprised when he heard footsteps growing louder as they approached his room; he usually yelled back that he was awake, but both David and Jerry had quickly figured out that he wasn’t actually up, just awake—sort of.
“Up as in vertical, or up as in awake?”
David knocked at his door and waited until William granted permission for him to enter. If there was one thing both his dad and David insisted on, it was that everyone have manners both inside and outside the house.
“You can come in.” William cupped his hand over his mouth as another yawn sneaked up on him. “My stomach is sore… and my arms and my legs.”
“Do you feel sick?” David’s hand was on his forehead before he could answer. The only good thing about being sick was David. He would sit with William and watch movies with him, make him soup and give him ginger ale so that he could burp, out loud; the burping always made William feel better.
“No, not pukey sick, more like achey sick.”
“Maybe you just worked too hard on Saturday.” David rubbed William’s upper arm between his hands and then did the same for his legs. “I’ll tell you what. You go hop into a nice hot shower, and I’ll see if your dad will let you stay home today. But just today.”
“But what about soccer practice?”
“Well, how about if you just stay home this morning until you’re not so achey?” David smiled as he smoothed his hand over William’s blond buzz cut.
“Nah, I can handle it.” William made his way to the bathroom, with David close behind. “If I get tired, I’ll call you from practice, and then I’ll come home and go to bed early. Okay?” At this last word, William stopped and turned to look up at David.
“Yessir,” David teased and offered a salute. “But if you feel sick or tired or achey, call your dad, and if he doesn’t answer, call me, and I’ll come and take you home.”
“’Kay.”
“Now, you’ve got fifteen minutes to get ready if you want waffles. If it takes you longer than that… I’ll still make you waffles, but you’ll have to eat them in the car.”
William let a small chuckle escape. “Where’s Dad?”
“Your father is in the barn trying to finish those last two pieces for his exhibition in Edmonton this weekend.” David turned and started down the stairs toward the kitchen, but then stopped suddenly. “Do you still want to come, or do you think you might like spending the weekend at Lenore’s better?”
An Earlier Heaven Page 3