by Shannon West
“What?”
“He’s moving into my place, okay? He’s renting a room from me, if you have to know.”
“But I thought you couldn’t stand the guy! Hey, wait a minute, you live in a one-bedroom.”
Nick shrugged. “It’s complicated, like I told you. I like him fine. He just—gets on my nerves sometimes.”
“Really?” Mike considered for a moment, then smiled. “I thought you said he wasn’t gay. Details, man. I want details.”
“Mind your own business. I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Okay, okay.” Mike held up both hands and backed out of the office, still smiling. “We’ll talk about this later.” He eased the door shut and walked away whistling.
“Don’t count on it,” Nick muttered and shoved some papers into his briefcase. There was no way he was going to get any work done today at the office. Certainly, he hadn’t gotten much done so far. He had a headache and his leg had begun to throb and burn again.
He got slowly to his feet and made his halting way down the hall. If he was truthful, he’d admit he wanted to get home and see if Carter was still moving in or if he’d decided he made a huge mistake and was running for the hills. He wished he hadn’t mentioned the move to Mike in case it all fell through.
After trying to convince himself he hated Carter, he found it hard to switch gears so abruptly. Yet all day long he’d had a funny, butterfly kind of feeling in his stomach which felt a little like—hope. He hadn’t felt anything like it in years, and he was afraid to trust it this time. The feeling had stubbornly hung on all day, though, no matter how hard he tried to ignore it.
He’d been totally shocked when Carter had brought up the idea of sex between them. He’d long since stopped hoping for such a thing and he still didn’t believe Carter would go through with it.
The first thing he noticed when he drove up to his apartment was the moving van. Admittedly, it was a small one, but Christ! A fucking moving van! He pulled into a parking space and walked up to his front door. It was propped open and occupied at the moment by two burly guys moving in a huge chest of drawers.
Nick spotted Carter standing in the middle of the living room behind them, looking impossibly gorgeous in jeans and a flannel shirt while tossing out commands that he probably thought were suggestions.
As Nick walked up behind the moving guys, they managed to ease the chest of drawers through the door and he followed them inside. “A few things, huh? What is all this, Carter? Are you kidding me?”
“What’s the problem? It’s not going to be in your way—I can’t very well leave my things in storage indefinitely, can I? Besides, the storage fees are costing me a fortune.” His lips twisted into one of those sexy little smiles which inevitably had the power to make Nick’s cock hard and his knees wobble.
Nick shifted his feet uncomfortably. His voice came out harsher than he wanted. “Where’s this all going to go?”
“Well, Nick, it’s not like you have a houseful of furniture in here. I mean, you’re eating off a card table, for God’s sake. And that sofa...”
“What about it? Nothing wrong with it.”
“Nothing right with it either. It stinks and the cushions are ripped. I threw it out.”
“You did what?” Nick’s voice became deadly quiet. Carter reached up and put one hand on his chest. Nick felt as if an electric shock jolted through him.
“Oh, come inside and sit down.” Nick was sure Carter was flirting with him. Did he realize what he was doing? What happened to his “let’s take it slow, Nick—get to know each other again”?
“Your leg’s bothering you again, isn’t it? Sit over in the easy chair by the sofa and put your feet up.”
Carter took him by the hand and drew him over to a plush, leather chair which hadn’t been there that morning. He pushed him down. Another sweet, little smile touched his lips, and for a moment, Nick got lost in his gaze. His throat was dry, but he nodded. Carter turned to go into the bedroom where the movers were setting up the chest. Nick could have sworn he twitched his ass a little as he walked away for his benefit, knowing he was watching.
Thing were moving too fast and he couldn’t keep up. He was suddenly very tired.
The damn chair he was sitting in was actually soft and luxurious. He felt like he was sinking into it. He decided to close his eyes for only a few minutes to get rid of the headache that had been plaguing him all day. The next thing he knew he was falling headlong into a deep, peaceful sleep.
He began to dream almost immediately. In his dream, a naked Carter was kneeling beside a leather bench, his hands clenched tightly behind his neck. Nick stood behind him with a thin cane, and he snapped it over and over by Carter’s head, a thin reedy sound. It whined its way past his head.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes, sir.” Carter’s voice was weak and fearful, quavering a little.
“You understand why you’re being punished?”
“Yes, sir.”
“From now on, you’ll do exactly as I say, is that understood? No back talk. No smart remarks. And for God’s sake, no lectures.”
“Yes, sir, I understand, sir.”
Blood rushed to Nick’s aching erection with dizzying speed. He’d wanted to do this for so long. If ever anyone needed a good whipping, it was Carter. Sweat trickled from Carter’s temples, meandering lazily down his neck and dripping onto his chest. The sweat made its way over his pectoral muscles and down his abs to pool in his navel.
“Ready?”
Carter squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath. “Yes, sir.”
“Bend over the bench. We’ll start with a set of five.”
Nick striped Carter’s ass, laying down a cross pattern. Nick knew they stung, but didn’t hurt too badly. Just enough to make him squirm and cry a little.
When he finished, he came around to the front of the bench, tipping Carter’s head up, making him look in his eyes. “Do you need more?”
Carter’s wet eyelashes closed. “No, sir. Please , sir.”
Nick’s cock hammered and throbbed at the look on his face. “Oh, but I think you do.” He pulled a whip from the toy shelf and sauntered back over to Carter.
The whip sang in the air again, and Nick laid another set of five stripes on his red, rounded ass. Carter was trembling, biting his lips with the effort not to cry out.
“You can crawl over here now and suck my cock.”
“Thank you, sir,” Carter said meekly. He winced as he crawled slowly toward Nick, his hips swaying and his face red with humiliation. Nick’s erection rode high on his stomach. He was so hard, it actually hurt. Carter licked his lips and bent over him.
He looked up into Nick’s eyes and said sweetly, “Are you awake?”
“What?’ Nick said in a puzzled tone. “What did you say?”
“Nick, are you awake?” Carter stood in Nick’s kitchen by the stove, taking a casserole dish out of the oven. “Want something to eat? I made lasagna.”
Confused, Nick came fully awake to find a blanket draped over his lap. A blanket which now tented up with his very large erection. There was a delicious aroma of cooking filling the room. The dream he’d been having had been so vivid, so perfect, he was having a hard time waking up from it.
“Go wash your hands. I made a few things.”
Nick sat up and rubbed his hand over his face before getting out of the chair and going over to the dining room. He ignored Carter’s admonition to wash his hands. Carter had changed clothes and was wearing black skinny jeans and a dark sweater. He looked edible himself. And that wasn’t all. A large table with cherry wood chairs now sat where his old card table used to be. It was set with a red tablecloth and Christmas china. Who the fuck had Christmas china? Not any guys he’d ever known. Nick glared down at it all for a moment before he turned on Carter.
“What the fuck is all this?”
“I know it’s been a while since you lived like a civilized person, Nick, but I didn’t kno
w it had gotten that bad. Okay, these are plates. You put the food on them to eat.”
Carter placed another casserole dish on the table. The whole table was full of food, mostly finger type foods like for a party.
“You know what I mean, damn it! I know I told you that you could move in, but this is …what are you doing? Why are you so dressed up all of a sudden? Why so much food? What’s going on?”
Carter pressed his lips together for a long moment, looking hurt. He folded his arms over his chest and looked hurt.
“You’ve been bitching at me since you walked in! Nothing’s ever good enough for you, is it? Nothing I say or do can make up for the past, can it? I’ll leave, then, if that’s what you want!”
Angry, he tried to brush past Nick on his way to the door. Nick grabbed his arm and turned him roughly around, pulling him down into his lap. He held him there with a tight grip on his wrists.
“I’m sorry, okay? Stop acting like a teenage girl and stop trying to pick a fight. I don’t mean to bitch at you all the time. No, I don’t want you to leave, but I want you to tell me what you really want from me. Tell me!”
Carter turned his head and refused to speak, his lips pressed tightly together.
“Look at me. Please, Carter?” Carter tried to jerk away, but the larger man held him there, immobile, helpless. Nick bent his head and took Carter’s mouth with his. He thrust his tongue inside Carter’s mouth, almost forcing it down his throat. He released Carter’s wrists and wrapped him tightly in his arms, continuing to ravage his lips. Somewhere in the middle of the violent kiss, however, things began to change.
Carter stopped struggling and pushing Nick’s tongue away with his own. Instead of a battle, it became a kind of dance, Nick’s lips became softer, sweeter, and his tongue intertwined with Carter’s. The kiss became hot and slow.
Nick still held Carter immobile, but he ground his cock seductively against Carter’s ass. Carter slowly, almost reluctantly, it seemed, began to move his hips too, grinding his ass down onto Nick’s cock, his breath coming fast and hard. Nick pulled his mouth away a few inches, still close to Carter’s lips as he spoke.
“You want to make love to me, Carter? Do you want to try? Like you promised?”
Carter closed his eyes and shrugged.
“Stop lying. Look at me. I said look at me, honey.”
Carter turned slowly to face him, his eyes open, but a little defiant.
“I do want to, but-but I’m scared, Nick.”
Before Nick could say another word, the doorbell sounded with a loud peal. Nick turned toward it with a feral growl. “Who the hell could that be?”
Carter swallowed nervously, but raised his chin to stare into Nick’s eyes. “I was talking to Mike earlier today on the phone, and he suggested…he said we might want to invite a few friends over for a little housewarming-slash-Christmas party. I thought maybe I could surprise you. I hope you don’t mind, Nick. Please don’t be mad. I decorated and made food and everything.”
“You have got to be fucking kidding me.”
For the first time, he really looked around and noticed a few swags of greenery with red bows festooned along the fireplace and the table had Santa Claus candle holders with red candles. The only thing missing was a Christmas tree.
Carter pulled away as the doorbell rang insistently. He climbed up out of Nick’s lap, straightening his clothes, his face red. Going to the door, he cast a quick glance over his shoulder at Nick. He winced at the furious expression he saw there.
As he opened the door, Mike Johnson walked in, carrying a large grocery bag. He was followed by several of Nick’s friends, including two men who’d been at the poker party.
“Hi, guys! We come bearing gifts!” Mike sauntered in and put his bags down on the counter in the kitchen. He either ignored or pretended to ignore Nick’s furious glare. Right behind him was an assistant English teacher named Karen, a pretty blonde who gave Carter a wink and a kiss as she walked in. Two other female members of the department were right behind them. They were all talking and laughing, waving at Nick and giving Carter a big hug as they came in the door. There were two professors from the History Department there too, including the Head of Department and his wife.
Nick came over to Carter quietly and stood beside him. He leaned down slightly and murmured in his ear. “Just how many people did you invite anyway, Carter?”
Carter refused to meet his eyes. He cleared his throat nervously. “It was supposed to be a kind of housewarming-slash-Christmas party.”
“So you said. How many, Carter?”
Carter glanced up at Nick and then quickly away. “Um. About twenty or twenty-five...”
Nick straightened up and shook his head. “Great.”
Nick raised his voice to include everyone there. “Folks, Carter forgot to tell me about his little shindig, and unfortunately, I’ve made other plans for tonight.” Nick heard Carter’s slight intake of breath behind him, but ignored it. He grabbed his jacket and walked to the door. “Make yourself at home, though. Don’t let me stop your fun. Merry Christmas!”
He waved to the chorus of voices behind him, asking him to change his plans. He never so much as glanced at Carter as he made his way out the door and to his car. Once he was sitting behind the wheel, he almost changed his mind and went back inside. He regretted his show of temper, because he had no fucking place to go.
He slammed his fist on the steering wheel. Damn him. Carter knew that he’d want sex their first night in the apartment together. He’d been patient while he was moving in, but enough was enough. He knew there would be a chance Nick would want to make love to him. And he couldn’t face it. Nick began to wonder if he ever could. Was this experimentation that Carter was doing? Was he simply curious? Nick had been with experimenters before and they were almost always bad news. He started his engine and laid rubber out of the parking lot. As he left, he glanced back in the rear view and saw a big wreath hanging on his front door. It was studded with red bows and looked nice against the black door of his apartment.
Nick actually had no plans, of course, so mostly he rode around. He was still hungry—their dinner had been interrupted. He stopped at a Waffle House and had a burger and fries. He sat in a booth drinking several cups of coffee and thinking about Carter.
He had such ambivalent feelings toward him. On the one hand, he’d loved him since he was a little kid, and that hadn’t changed. On the other hand, he was so damned angry with him, he wanted to beat him sometimes. Not seriously, of course, but a good spanking might be just what he needed.
Nick thought back to his dream earlier in the evening and chuckled a bit. He’d never been into BDSM or any kind of rough play, but for Carter, he thought he might be able to make an exception. His crotch tightened at the thought of Carter across his lap.
He wasn’t sure how he could resolve his feelings for Carter, and it bothered him. He couldn’t—he wouldn’t let him go—not after wanting him for so long. But this was moving at lightning speed and he still wasn’t sure if they could have a good relationship after so much time had passed. Maybe they’d missed their chance. Even assuming Carter was serious about becoming his lover, it might not work. Nick felt so many mixed up feelings for him, it made him dizzy.
After an hour or so, he got up wearily and left the diner, heading toward home. He needed to face Carter. If there were to be any chance for them, he had to figure the situation out somehow. Find some way to resolve these old feelings of anger while not jeopardizing the relationship in any way. It was just too important.
As he pulled into his apartment parking lot, he could hear the music, a reverberating, thumping sound which jarred his teeth. His conservative neighbors would call the police on him soon, if they hadn’t already. He got out of the car and made his way up the sidewalk.
His front door was standing wide open, and sounds of a wild party in full swing echoed out the door. He stepped inside, slamming the door behind him. Not that anyone could hear it
over that damned music bumping away.
What had started as a gathering of friends for a Christmas party had turned into something like a scene from a frat house movie. Some dude he didn’t even know was sitting on Carter’s new sofa, smoking something that Nick had a pretty good idea wasn’t a cigarette. The man had his eyes closed and his head back, swaying to the beat reverberating through the apartment. Jingle Bell Rock . Seriously? How stoned was this guy?
“Nick!” Mike came over to him and threw his arm around him drunkenly. “Good to see you, man, I’m glad you’re back!” He steered Nick into the kitchen where several people were hanging out. Betty, a girl he’s seen around the college enough to know her name was sitting up on the counter, swinging her legs. Nick thought she was a receptionist for the dean.
Next to her was one of his poker buddies, trying to feed her Jello shots. Another girl he didn’t know was making herself a drink, and Carter had his back to him, his head deep inside the refrigerator. He seemed to be digging around for something.
He straightened up as Nick came in and turned to flash a brilliant smile at him. “Hi, Nick. Welcome back to the party.” He was slurring his words. His eyes were bloodshot and a little wild looking.
“Are you drunk, Carter?”
Carter shook his head violently, losing his balance and falling into Betty on the counter. She laughed and kissed him right on the mouth. Nick felt hot jealousy wash over him. It was so strong it actually made him sick for a moment. Then the girl laughed and shoved against Carter so hard he fell back against the refrigerator on the other side.
“What the hell’s the matter with you?” Nick demanded angrily, shooting the woman a murderous look. He put his hand under Carter's chin and peered down into his face. Carter, are you drugged?” He whirled around to face Mike. “Did somebody drug him?”
Carter sagged down suddenly in the floor and leaned back on the cabinets. Nick made a move toward him, but Mike grabbed his arm. “No, man, he’s okay. He had a little too much Hunch Punch, that’s all.”
Nick’s eyebrows rose dramatically. Hunch Punch was an almost lethal brew of several kinds of liquors all dumped together. Everyone at a party would bring a little of whatever they had on hand, and they dumped it all together to make a potent, nasty drink. It was guaranteed to give you a three-day headache.