V: The V in Vulnerable

by Snyder, J. M.

  He wanted to take care of that—and his own erection—without further delay.

  Deftly he plucked the razor from Matt’s hand and rinsed it off in the sink. With practiced ease, he shaved his balls, ignoring the surge of emotion as he rolled the sac of skin between his fingers to feel for any spot he might have missed. “I’m going to be done in two seconds,” he told Matty, his lover, snagging a clean washcloth off the back of the toilet. He doused it with clean water from the sink and washed away the remnants of shaving cream on his genitals. “You better be ready to fuck me silly by the time I’m done.”

  “I’m ready now,” Matt assured him. He rose to step up behind Vic and wrapped his arms around his lover’s waist. His cock pressed between Vic’s large buttocks, thick and unyielding, an unspoken demand Vic wanted to satisfy. When he leaned against Vic, his head tucked between Vic’s shoulder blades, all Vic could see in the mirror was Matt’s arms around him, holding him tight.

  Then one arm disappeared, slipping behind him, leaving just Matt’s left forearm like a belt around Vic’s belly. Vic grabbed Matt’s hand before he could remove that arm, too. Holding it against him, Vic grinned at his own reflection. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  Suddenly something cool and wet eased down the crack of his ass to pool at his clenched hole. “This,” Matt murmured.

  One finger slid inside Vic and he gasped with delight as he stood on his toes. In his mind’s eye he saw Matt a moment before, surreptitiously squeezing out a healthy palmful of lube from a half-used tube that had fallen earlier from the sink into the tub. Now he worked that dollop into Vic with his forefinger as he thrust into his palm, slathering his cock.

  Standing on the balls of his feet, Vic pressed against the sink and watched himself moan. The sound that escaped his throat was guttural and low, primal in its need. “Fuck me, Matty. Oh, God. Oh, Christ. Just fuck me already, will you? Please.”

  Matt’s flushed face appeared over Vic’s shoulder in the mirror with an enigmatic grin like the damned Cheshire cat’s. “I thought we were taking this into the bedroom?”

  “Here,” Vic commanded. “Right here. I can’t wait any longer.”

  To prove his point, he turned and caught Matt in a heady kiss, his strong arms enveloping Matt to pull him close. Matt backed up against the full-length mirror on the wall behind him. “Vic,” he sighed, breathless. His hands caught Vic’s hard cock and slid easily along the length. “I love you like this.”

  “I love you,” Vic managed between kisses. Releasing Matt, he laid his hands flat against the mirrored surface and left smudged fingerprints smeared where he touched. His arms hemmed Matt in, trapping his lover in the span between them. He planted a tender kiss on Matt’s temple. “Like this or any other way, I don’t care. I just want you in me, you hear?”

  Matt grinned. “Loud and clear. Spread ‘em for me, loverboy.”

  Vic did as he was told, spreading his legs apart. Matt tugged on Vic’s cock, pulling him close, until the space between them disappeared. Vic covered Matt’s mouth with his own as he felt his lover’s fingers fumble behind his balls, Matt’s cock following a second after. A moment’s discomfort as the tip of Matt’s dick pierced him, then Vic relaxed and his lover eased into him like a gear locking into place.

  Where he belonged.

  Vic glanced at his wild-eyed reflection and saw behind him the mirror above the sink and, reflected back, their paired coupling against the full-length mirror. Inside that, another reflection, smaller than the first but just as definite, reflecting back onto itself the same image over and over again—two men clasped together in the throes of passion, VIc’s ass flexing around Matt’s thick cock, Matt’s arms snaking around Vic’s waist to keep him near, their bodies moving in an ancient synchronous rhythm that spoke only of completion.

  Then Vic closed his eyes and gave into that rhythm, driving him toward love’s release.

  * * * *

  Monday morning came all too early for Matt. When his alarm clock went off, he rolled over halfheartedly to silence it, then snuggled closer to Vic’s warm, nude body. Two seconds later, the familiar jangle of dog tags roused him as the bed shook beneath Sadie’s sudden weight. Her cold nose burrowed beneath the blankets, aiming for his feet. “All right, all right!” he cried softly. He pulled his toes away from her lapping tongue and struggled to free himself from the bed sheet. “I’m up.”

  The dog waited impatiently as Matt relieved himself—from the bathroom, he could hear her paws as she paced by the door to their apartment, eager to head outside. Pulling on Vic’s flannel robe, which swam on Matt’s lithe frame, Matt stopped in the kitchen to retrieve the full trash bag his lover had tied up the night before. He snatched Sadie’s leash from the hook where it hung beside the fridge and wrestled with her for a moment in the early morning darkness of the hallway before the clasp snapped tight around her collar. Then, the dog tugging on one hand and the trash bag in the other, Matt let her lead him from the apartment, downstairs, and out the front door.

  Cool air prickled Matt’s bare legs as he stepped outside. Though the temperature was already well into the upper seventies at this hour, the day’s humidity wasn’t nearly as high as it would be in another hour or so. Giving Sadie some lead so she could nose around behind the azaleas, Matt trotted to the curb and deposited the garbage bag in the trashcan waiting for pickup. When he left a little later for work, he’d bring down the recycles and leave them by the can, as well. It was Vic’s job to return the empty trashcan to its spot on the side of their building and bring the recycle bin back inside before he left at noon.

  Matt returned to the stoop and wrapped his arms around himself as he waited for the dog to finish her business behind the bushes. Vic’s scent wafted up from the robe, warm and intoxicating. His whole body ached to return to his lover’s embrace, but he had to be at the gym in an hour or he’d never hear the end of it from his coworker, Roxie. Why it bothered her when he was late, he didn’t know. The few times he’d actually arrived at work before her stood out like diamonds in his mind. He’d sat in her chair at the reception desk, feet kicked up beside her computer, and practically gloated when she walked in. “Shut up,” she’d said, before he even managed to savor the moment. “I don’t want to hear it, Matthew. Trust me, you don’t want to go there.”

  Grinning, Matt whistled for Sadie. When she didn’t respond immediately, he tugged on her lead, reeling her in. Maybe he’d try to show up early today, just to piss off Roxie. It would set the tone for the rest of the week.

  Back upstairs, Matt was locking the door behind him when he heard paper rustling in the living room and turned to see Sadie circling to sit on the Sunday paper Vic had left discarded on the floor. Before she could get comfortable, Matt chased her off. “You know better,” he chided. Sadie ignored the tone of his voice and wagged her tail happily. When Matt rolled up the paper to add to the recycling, she growled playfully and grabbed the end of the roll with her teeth, shaking her head from side to side to pull it free. “Hey! No, bad dog!”

  She didn’t listen to him, but then again, she never did. Matt managed to swat her away and hurried to the kitchen to deposit the papers in the bin. There he fed her some kibble—two cups, as he did every morning, though Vic always said she only needed one—and brewed a pot of coffee while she ate at his feet. From where he leaned against the counter, waiting for the java to brew, he could look down into the recycle bin and read the pages on the bottom of the newspaper stack. He saw the funnies, an ad for a grocery store, a page of coupons Vic hadn’t bothered cutting out, a page of jewelry…

  Matt plucked that last advertisement out of the bin. Since he’d proposed to Vic a few months back, he’d been searching for the perfect set of rings for them to exchange. Not necessarily wedding bands—this was Virginia, after all, not Massachusetts—but matching rings to show their love for each other. He’d looked through so many jewelry catalogs both online and off that he was beginning to think the standard gold band
would have to suffice. Nothing seemed quite right. Jewelry catering to gay men was too gaudy, and anything in a catalog was too expensive. He needed to start looking around at the local shops if he wanted to find something he liked.

  Quickly he flipped through the ad. Nothing stood out to him—wedding bands came paired in his and hers varieties, which simply wouldn’t work. Matt started to roll up the ad, intent on shoving it back into the recycling bin, when a coupon on the back caught his attention. Monday only! it read and, under that, Buy any ring in the store and present this ad for HALF OFF your second purchase!

  Matt glanced at the front of the ad again but didn’t recognize the name of the store, but a list of locations in the fine print on the back showed an address close to the gym where he worked. Half off a second ring made buying a matched set suddenly very affordable. Maybe he could swing by on his lunch break, see what they had in stock, find something he liked…

  Something cold and wet pressed into the heel of his foot. With a yelp, Matt dropped the ad and stumbled back, only to find Sadie nosing around the floor where he stood. Some of her food had pushed out of her bowl and she was chasing it down, pushing him aside in the process. “You spoiled pooch,” Matt said affectionately, tapping her on the head with the ad.

  She glanced up at him with a soft woof!, then returned to her meal. Carefully Matt tore off the store’s coupon, then dropped the rest of the ad in with the other recycles. He’d run over at lunch and take a look around the store. Who knew? Maybe he’d finally find something he liked.

  At half off the second ring, he suspected he might.

  * * * *

  When Matt pulled into the gym’s parking lot, he grinned at the empty spot where Roxie’s car usually sat. Ha! Got here first. Boo-yah! He could just imagine the pissy look on her face when she finally rolled in and found him at her desk waiting, a self-satisfied smirk in place. “Late night?” he would ask. She always picked on him when he was late. God, how he loved it when the tables were turned.

  Unfortunately, he didn’t get a chance to tease her—as he was letting himself in the front door of the gym, a strange minivan pulled up behind him. The door opened and Roxie stepped out, flipping her black-dyed ponytail over her shoulder. “I’m down on the return list! Call me!” she shouted to someone inside the van before pulling the door shut. Then she hiked her purse strap up her arm and jogged over to where Matt waited. “Hold the door, will you? I don’t have my key.”

  Matt leaned back against the door, keeping it open for her. “That your new boyfriend?” he asked. “Sweet ride.”

  One small fist caught him in the side as Roxie passed by. “That’s the body shop’s shuttle, smart ass. My car wouldn’t start this morning. The alternator died.”

  Following Roxie into the gym’s lobby, Matt asked, “So what, you left all your keys with the mechanic? Why didn’t you just take the one for your car off your keychain?”

  Roxie threw him a withering look. “Because I forgot. Now are you going to open up, or what?”

  She waited at the locked inner door that led to the administrative area of the gym. Matt was tempted to tell her he didn’t have his key, either, just to rile her up, but she’d know he was lying—the keycard that opened the door was already in Matt’s hand. As he swiped it through the reader, he muttered, “Did you at least remember the one for your desk? Or are you just going to sit here all morning playing on the computer instead of actually getting any work done? Oh, wait. That’s what you normally do already, isn’t it?”

  His remark earned him another punch, this one just above his right kidney. “Don’t be mean,” Roxie said as she pushed him out of the way. “Do you know how much that piece of shit’s going to cost me to get fixed?”

  “Get a new car,” Matt offered.

  “On my salary?” Roxie stopped at the door leading to the reception area and watched Matt hurry past. He only got a few yards down the hall before she cleared her throat. “Hello? No keys, remember?”

  Matt shook his head. “Not my problem,” he said with a laugh.

  Roxie’s voice hardened. “It will be if I have to answer phones from the pool office all morning.”

  Without breaking stride, Matt pivoted in midstep and returned to her side, already shuffling through his keys to find the one to open her office door. “That’s cruel and unusual punishment. Do you think I’d get worker’s comp if I had to share a room with you?”

  “I think you’d get some work done for once,” Roxie shot back, “instead of mooning over wedding rings and staring at porn all day long.”

  “Links you send me,” he pointed out. “Hello? Who reads slash on her lunch break? Just because it’s written out in words with no accompanying pictures doesn’t make it any less pornographic. God knows it’s not literary.”

  Roxie kicked his shoe with her Doc Marten boot as he unlocked her door. “Says you. I bet the most reading you do is the TV Guide while you’re on the can. Speaking of lunch—”

  “We weren’t.” Matt held the door open for her and stood aside, waiting for her to enter the office. When she didn’t, he turned and saw the expectant look on her face. Shaking his head, he started, “Oh, no. No. I have errands to run this afternoon.”

  “But did you bring your lunch?” Roxie wanted to know.

  “I have things I need to do,” Matt told her. “I’ll just grab a bite—”

  Roxie nodded as if it were settled. “So I’ll come with. We both need to eat, and in case you forgot, I don’t have a car. Where are you going anyway?”

  Too late, Matt realized his mistake. “Nowhere really. Look, Roxie—”

  “If it’s nowhere, then you can take me with you when you go get lunch.” She breezed by him and clicked on the light, illuminating the bank of halogens above her desk. “Jeez, Matt. It’s not like you’re making a condom run or anything, right?”

  He groaned. “Roxie…”

  Over her shoulder, she glared at him. “Right?”

  “I have something to do,” he tried again. “I’m going—I have to stop by a jeweler’s, all right? Happy? I just want to take my time and look around, without anyone hurrying me along because we have to be back in an hour. I’ll grab something while I’m out but I really want to do this alone, you know?”

  He expected a sarcastic reply, something biting and bitter, but to his surprise, Roxie’s eyes had gone wide and her expression softened. Barely restrained excitement laced her words when she spoke. “You’re getting the rings today?” she asked in a girlish whisper. “Oh, take me, take me!”

  Matt sighed. “Roxie, I don’t think…”

  Clasping her hands together as if in prayer, she scrunched up her shoulders and hunched down, subservient. “Pleeeese? Pretty please? I’ll be good, I promise. I won’t say a word. Oh, this is so exciting! I can’t believe it’s finally going to happen!”

  Matt rolled his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, suddenly tired. “Roxie, really. You’re more strung out about this than I am. I just want to look—”

  “So we’ll look,” she assured him. “I’ll give you a woman’s perspective. Or wait—are you meeting up with Vic or something? Is that why you don’t want me to tag along? Because I totally understand…”

  “No,” Matt said, before thinking he could have lied and gotten out of having her tag along. “He hates shopping, you know that. He’s basically told me to pick out the rings. I know what he likes.”

  A wicked gleam crept into Roxie’s eyes. She gave Matt a salacious wink. “I bet you do. So what, we’ll leave around twelve?”

  For a moment, Matt didn’t answer. He was trying to think of how to uninvite her in a way she’d have to listen to, but he simply couldn’t see how. Once Roxie made up her mind to do something, nothing Matt might say would change her mind. She’d see him leaving at lunch time and follow right along behind him or, worse, hang out at his car waiting. The sooner he gave into her, the better off he’d be.

  “Funny how the minute I start talking about
Vic, your attitude improves a hundred percent,” he grumbled. He didn’t answer her question, but he didn’t have to—she already knew as well as he did that she was going out with him at lunch.

  “A hundred and ten percent,” Roxie corrected. “Don’t act like you don’t get nicer when you talk about him, too. He’s already your better half and you’re not even married yet.”

  * * * *

  During the week Vic didn’t need to be into work until noon, so he usually slept until ten. At least, that’s when his alarm went off. Most days it was Matt’s alarm clock that woke him up, four hours earlier. Though he’d drift back to sleep, he never really dropped into a deep slumber. Often he’d raise his head, squint blearily at the clock, then drop back to the pillow with an inarticulate grunt when he realized only a half hour had passed since the last time he looked. It was frustrating.

  On days like that, he usually gave up any hope of rest and instead climbed out of bed a half hour before his alarm was scheduled to ring. He spent the extra time at the gym, working out before he had to be into work. If nothing else, stopping at the gym gave him a few moments with Matt, which always made Vic’s day.

  Monday morning was proving to be one of those where Vic knew he’d get up earlier than he wanted. He woke with Matt’s alarm and burrowed farther under the blankets while his lover took out the trash. By the time Matt returned from taking Sadie out, Vic had almost managed to fall back asleep. Then Matt got in the shower, and try as he might, Vic couldn’t block the mental connection they shared. He didn’t want to, really—the sensation of water pounding down around Matt’s shoulders invigorated Vic, and the fresh scent of Matt’s shampoo was bright in Vic’s mind. Every breath he drew seemed to inhale cleanliness. If he weren’t so damn tired, he might have risen to join Matty in the shower.

  Instead, he did the next best thing. With his telepathic ability, he massaged Matt’s shoulders and felt his lover shudder with delight beneath the weight of his thoughts. ::That you, Vic?:: Matty asked, his silent words whispered into Vic’s sleeping mind.