Alex & Clayton (19 page)

C
LAY
closed the door, went back into the living room, and sat down. A smile crept across his face as he chuckled to himself. Alex had passed the test with flying colors, and Clay couldn’t be happier.

He was fully aware of what happened the night before between him and Alex, although he was indeed drunk. But in order to be able to trust Alex before he gave his heart to him, he had to prove to himself that Alex was trustworthy. By telling Alex that he didn’t remember anything, he gave Alex the choice to stay quiet or reveal the truth. Revealing the truth showed he was an honorable man, and that made Clay feel safe with him.

The sex had been fantastic. Now he couldn’t wait for another bout with Alex—sober this time. He had so much to learn about how to make love to a man rather than just getting him off, and he knew that Alex was the perfect man to school him.

A
T
HOME
, Alex was in a great mood. He was going to get to sleep with Clay again as well as go out to dinner and coffee. It would be their second date, and he became momentarily lost in the memories of Clay naked in his arms. Why he felt like a kid getting his first dose of sex was beyond Alex, but he was thrilled to be able to show off his equipment in Clay’s living room and have Clay admire everything. He would make sure that the next night was perfect in every respect. Since Clay didn’t remember their first time, it was a new first time for Clay, and Alex definitely wanted him to remember it this time.

Alex had grown hard just thinking about another night in bed with his friend. Maybe Clay was the one for a long-term relationship? Time would tell.

Chapter Twelve

T
HE
next day saw some more light snow, about an inch that once again made everything look pretty. Alex spent the day cleaning the house from the holidays and making it look as near to perfect as he could.

Clay did more or less the same thing but didn’t have as much to clean. When he was finished, he went shopping for some new underwear. He wanted something unlike anything else he had ever owned. He wasn’t dressing for himself but for Alex.

Alex called the Blue Moon, made reservations for six o’clock, and took a shower a little after five. He dressed in clothes that he knew made him look good and went down the stairs. At 5:45, Clay rang the doorbell.

Alex let Clay in and hugged him.

“Nice to see you this evening. Are you ready for dinner?” Alex asked.

“I sure am. Then Starbucks and back here to watch television.”

“Yeah, or something like that,” Alex responded with a smile.

“Since it’s not sub-zero weather and the snow has stopped again, can we walk?”

“Sure, why not. If it feels slippery, just grab onto me and I’ll keep you on your feet.”

Alex threw on a leather jacket, and they went to the Moon for dinner. As they walked in, the owner recognized them and smiled warmly.

“Welcome back. I hope you had a great time on New Year’s Eve!” Tim said.

“Yes, we had a great time, thank you. Hopefully, you’ll do that every year,” Alex said as they were taken to their table.

“Well, that’s the plan. Shall I book you two a reservation for December thirty first?” he asked with a laugh.

“Might be a tad early for that, but we’ll get our reservations in.”

Tim handed them menus and left so that the bus boy could fill their water glasses, and the waiter appeared for their drink order.

“I’ll have iced tea please, not Long Island, regular iced tea,” Clay said.

“And I’ll have a glass of white wine, Riesling please,” Alex said.

“Did you have a nice day?” Alex asked.

“Yes, very pleasant. Cleaned the house, went out shopping, and then got ready for tonight.”

“I spent most of today cleaning my house too. It picked up a lot of mess between Thanksgiving and today! I was embarrassed for myself when I saw how much needed to be done.”

Their drinks were served and their orders taken. As the waiter walked away, both men checked out his very-attractive ass.

Clay turned back to Alex and said, “I have something to tell you, speaking of ass.”

“What? You were looking too!”

“Yes, I know. I am sadly inexperienced with men, and I’m almost fifty. I’ve had very little sexual experience and no experience with love or close relations. There were a couple of guys in the past, years ago, who I began to trust, only to find that all they wanted was money.

“Then I met you here in this little town—retired cop who apparently has never had a lover, as such. I found myself wondering if you were any different than the other men I’ve run into in life. So, I told you a lie to see what you would do about it. I was so relieved that you did the right thing, and I’m now embarrassed at having lied. I hope you’ll forgive me and try to understand.”

“What lie?”

“I lied when I told you that I didn’t remember what we did New Year’s Eve. Yes, I indisputably had way too much to drink, but my memory was and is fine. I wanted to see if you would tell me the truth or hide it. You told me the truth like a man, a man I can now trust. That is, unless you get so pissed over this that you don’t even wanna finish dinner,” Clay said as he looked down at the table.

Alex sat back in the chair and stared for so long that Clay became twice as nervous.

“I had a feeling that you remembered,” Alex said at last, bluffing. “But I gave you the benefit of the doubt since you’re not a drinker on a regular basis. Why did you feel it necessary to test me?”

“Like I said, I needed to know if I could trust you or not. A gentleman would have told his partner what happened instead of concealing it. Are you furious with me?”

“I’ll let you know later. Here comes dinner,” Alex said as a waiter put down their entrees.

They ate in silence as Alex thought about what had happened, and Clay could hardly enjoy his dinner because of it. When they were finished and dessert was offered along with coffee, both declined.

“Dinner is on you,” Alex said to Clay.

“Of course, no problem,” Clay said as he dug out his credit card.

Starbucks was only three blocks over and one block out so they stuck to their plan for the evening and walked. They could both see their breath in the cold night air, which made them walk all the faster. Finally, they got to the shop and found two other couples sitting at the tables. One couple appeared to be gay.

They ordered their coffees and sat at a table for four toward the back of the room where the suspected gay couple was sitting. When they settled in, Clay asked once more.

“Alex, please tell me if you’re mad at me! I don’t like this silent treatment. If you wanna end our friendship, just say so, and I’ll go home now.”

“No, I don’t wanna end our friendship over this. But you have to be punished some way for lying to me.”

“Oh really? You think I’m some sixteen-year-old boy who you can ground for the month or something?”

“Excuse us. We couldn’t help overhearing you two quarreling. Mind if we join you?” the older half of the maybe-gay couple asked.

Not knowing what to say, Clay looked at Alex.

“Sure, it’s a table for four,” Alex answered.

When the other couple sat down, they all introduced themselves.

“Jim and I have been together over forty years now. We met when we were just twenty-one, and we’ve been together ever since. We married four years ago up in Massachusetts. If there’s one secret to staying together through the good times and the bad, it’s love and communication. You’ve got to love one another so strong that nothing else matters, and you’ve got to communicate when something’s not right. What I heard was Clay offering to end your friendship over whatever has happened. Alex, I take it, is the injured party. Wouldn’t it be up to him to put ending your friendship on the table?”

“You’re right, but I have to tell you, we’re not lovers or boyfriends. We’re friends of less than a year. I did something that might not be aboveboard due to a lack of experience dealing with men and relationships, and Alex is angry. I don’t blame him for being angry, but I don’t deal well with the silent treatment.”

“And you, Alex, you feel that whatever he’s done deserves some kind of punishment? Is that the way adults would handle it?”

“What I have in mind is very adult. But that’s between him and me.”

“Do you intend to end your friendship with Clay?”

“Not if he takes the punishment.”

“Clay?”

“Yeah, okay. I can only imagine what it is—probably free books for a year or something.”

“You’ll just have to wait and find out. Now relax until we get home, my home, that is.”

“Well, seems you boys have things to work out. All I can tell you in the end is that a relationship is worth every bit of trouble it can bring. Because along with the trouble, comes a lot of bliss and happiness. You can’t get one without the other,” Paul said, chuckling as Jim smacked him lightly on the head.

“Thanks, Paul and Jim, for sitting with us, but we need to get back to my house,” Alex said.

“I hope we’ll see you two around since you appear to live here.”

“Yes, we both do. I run Clayton’s Rainbow, a bookshop that will be opening back up full time around March. Not really sure yet. Right now I open one day a week for six hours for locals.”

“Great, we’ll have to stop by and look the place over. I had heard someone bought the bookstore. Glad to meet you both. Now go work out the issue and kiss and make up!”

Clay and Alex shook their hands and left for Alex’s house. It was colder than when they’d arrived at the coffee shop. A light snow began again and remained steady all the way home.

“What’s this punishment business?” Clay asked.

“You’ll see.”

“Maybe I should just go home then.”

“Your choice, Clayton. Far be it from me to keep anyone against their will or do something they don’t fully consent to,” Alex said with a secret smile that Clay couldn’t see.

“Shall I bring my overnight bag in or not?”

“Are you going to take your punishment for lying to me?”

“Okay, yes, damn it!”

“Then by all means get your bag and come in.”

As Alex entered the house he was all smiles. He turned on a light and hung up his coat in the closet. When Clay entered, Alex took his coat and gloves and hung them up.

Clay stood in the middle of the room like a schoolboy who knew he was bad but didn’t know the consequences yet.

“Sit down. Can I get you anything more to drink? Wine, booze, coffee?”

“No thank you, but I need to use your bathroom.”

When Clay came out of the bathroom, Alex pointed up the stairs.

“Move your ass, mister,” Alex said in a stern voice.

Clay moved, but he was unsure what Alex was up to. He certainly didn’t feel threatened or worried. He was intrigued to find out what was going to happen. As they went up the stairs, Alex fixed his eyes on Clay’s ass as it shifted from side to side, and grew hard. This was going to be fun!

They entered the bedroom, and Alex sat down on the bed.

“Take your clothes off.”

“Huh?”

“Take your clothes off now!” Alex said without a smile.

Okay, now Clay was nervous, but he still trusted Alex. He took off his shirt, kicked off his shoes, and dropped his pants. He took off his socks and stood there in his brand-new sexy underwear that accented both his junk and his ass.

“Are you naked?” Alex asked.

Clay thumbed down his shorts and kicked them off. Alex got up, took off his belt, and sat back down again.

“Come over here and lay across my lap.”

“What? You’re going to spank me? Do I look like a twelve-year-old boy?”

“Looking at that cock, I’d have to say no. Now do as you’re told and take what you earned,” Alex said with a wicked smile.

Clay finally moved toward Alex, not believing that a full-grown man of almost fifty was going to be spanked. He lay down across Alex’s lap and rested his chest and head on the bed. Alex moved him into the position he wanted and began with his hand.

“This is for lying to me!”

Clay cried out each time Alex’s big hand slammed into his tender ass-flesh. After five, it stopped and Clay thought, “That wasn’t so bad!” He began to move and was put right back in place.

“Where the hell you going? You’re not done yet, boy. This is for not trusting me and putting me through a stupid schoolboy test!”

This time the belt came slamming down on Clay’s ass and there was nothing light about the blows. Clay yelled each time the belt kissed his ass, ten times in total.

“Now ten more with my hand, and you’re done.”

Alex struck Clay’s ass in various places another ten times, which finally turned Clay’s ass slightly pink.

“Now, get up, and I hope you don’t pull something like that again!”

Clay stood up and looked at Alex like he didn’t know if that had just happened or not, but he was determined to take whatever Alex dished out. He rubbed his ass to dampen the burning feeling and said, “Okay, now what?”

“Please remove my shoes while kneeling. Then take off my socks.”