The Christmas Throwaway (14 page)

"He's fine, we're talking," he reassured her and ended the call with a "Don't worry, Mom, I'm not on until tomorrow. I'll keep him here tonight with me."

He dropped the cell on the cabinet and curled back around Zach, drawing him back so they were spooning, resting one hand on his lover's stomach, the other curled under his own pillow. He smiled when Zach's breathing evened out, and it became obvious the younger man was asleep. Ben's shift pattern was playing havoc with the quantity and quality of sleep he got at the moment. He'd not long been awake from a good six hours sleep, but lying here curled up with a sleeping Zach in his arms it was easy to fall asleep again.

* * * *

Zach surfaced from deep sleep a layer at a time,

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consciousness, then awareness, then embarrassment, and only then complete mortification. He stiffened in Ben's embrace, feeling the other man spooned behind him. Shit.

He had come over here and pretty much thrown himself at Ben, thrusting lube and condoms at him and demanding sex! How the hell was he going to face him? Carefully, he tried to extricate himself, pushing at Ben's hand where it lay across his stomach and wriggling to ease himself off the bed.

"Where are you going?" Ben growled softly, his hand moving gently to stroke a line from stomach to hip.

Zach bit his lower lip glad he couldn't see Ben's face. He needed to apologize or something, then he clearly needed to find a new place for Rebecca and him, 'cause, shit, he had screwed this up.

"Bathroom," he stammered. He finally pulled free and nearly ran to the small room, closing the door behind him. He then realized he was as naked as the day he had been born and just as vulnerable. He delayed for as long as he could, pissing, washing his face, and brushing his teeth with a new toothbrush from the small cupboard over the sink. Finally, he had no choice but to return to the room in the vague hope that maybe Ben had gone downstairs. No such luck. With a towel held loosely in front of him, he 155

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stood staring at the gorgeous man who had taken him so high the night before. The attractive, built, sexy naked man who was out of bed and standing no more than three feet from him.

"Get back into bed," Ben said, clearly not inviting argument. With a smile, he moved past Zach to use the bathroom himself. Zach couldn't move. Ben didn't sound angry, hurt, or mad, or any one of the million awful things that Zach thought he could be feeling. In fact, Ben had sounded almost indulgent, and he found himself unable to run. So he climbed back into the bed and snuggled under the soft covers. A casual glance at the alarm clock showed it was not much past six a.m., and it was ridiculous how wide awake he was, even this early.

Ben came back in the room, saying nothing, just

climbing back under the covers and scooting closer to Zach.

"Mornin'," he said softly, nuzzling his lips under Zach's chin, and tracing a line to the base of his throat.

"Morning," Zach offered in response, hoping that the kissing was an indication that Ben was not freaked out.

The other man trailed kisses along his jaw line and finally, thankfully, all toothpaste mint and tongue, started to show Zach the very best way to start a day.

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At first, it was nothing more than kissing, lazy and undefined, no purpose to it other than to taste, and Zach started to relax under Ben. When the kisses became deeper and more urgent, it was a natural progression, and when Ben was sucking on his nipples, laving them with his tongue and scratching his teeth across them, it was heaven.

He was seriously going to lose it now if Ben didn't stop, but it seemed that wasn't what Ben wanted as he drew back to speak.

"You regretting this?" he asked, and Zach knew he was slack jawed. Ben was asking him if he regretted last night? Wanted to know if he regretted what was singularly the most incredible experience of his life?

"Fuck, no," he answered quickly, and Ben, the bastard, just laughed, before rolling and snatching the supplies on the nightstand.

"You wanna?" he said, nipping and biting at Zach's neck, focusing on the pulse in his throat.

"Fuck, yes!"

Ben wanted to take this slow, but it was almost

impossible when he had Zach squirming beneath him. He hunted for the taste of Zach's skin, stopping every so often 157

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to suck small marks of possession, murmuring his

appreciation as he pressed his arm across Zach's hips to hold him still.

He used way too much lube, overcompensation for

the tension he could feel in his lover, his hot fingers sliding, stretching, twisting, finding and massaging the gland that would send Zach skywards.

Zach was demanding, moaning and pleading

continuously for more. Stopping wasn't even an option, and Ben tried to slow it down, but he was so close to losing it himself. He swallowed him down, no finesse, no pause, all hot sucking and slick movement. Zach was fucking up into Ben's mouth then down onto his fingers in frantic bursts of movement, arching and moaning and coming in a violent convulsive burst of white hot heat, choking out Ben's name.

Ben pulled his fingers out, not even able to take a moment to watch the way Zach was writhing under him.

With practiced ease, he rolled on a condom, pressed the head of his cock against the loosened muscle, holding Zach in such a way that he could look directly in his eyes. He wanted to see everything as Zach wrapped his legs around Ben's waist, and he inched his way in, pulling back, pushing in, until at last he rested inside.

Ben waited for a sign, any indication of the pain 158

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Zach must be feeling, words to say he could move, sweat pooling at the base of his spine and his arms trembling with exertion. Zach took the decision away from him, pushing up, his eyes glassy, a whimper from his mouth, and Ben moved, leaning down to capture kisses and words and pleas as he set a rhythm to make them fly.

He edged, almost reaching the peak, so damn close, but he didn't want to come yet. He wanted to know if Zach could lose it again. Zach was hard and hot between them, nails digging into Ben's skin, marking him, pulling him impossibly deeper and closer. Ben had never seen anything so beautiful as this man laid out under him. He could hardly breathe.

He needed to put his hands on him, wrap himself

around him, he needed touch. "Want to touch you," he said in a breath, and stopping the rhythm, he rested his weight on one elbow, the other hand slick with lube circling Zach.

It was awkward and perfect at the same time, and he was jacking Zach as he buried himself impossibly deeper then pulled out until only the tip of him was inside the dark tight heat. Every pass of his dick inside Zach made his lover groan and arch his neck in ecstasy, creating an opening for Ben to suck a mark low on his throat, even as he slowed his movements.

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"So… close… fuck…" He tried to get a sentence together, then came the warmth of Zach against him as Zach stiffened under him and shouted his release.

It was too much. He couldn't stop himself, couldn't hold it, and he bowed his head to touch his forehead to Zach's, his spine stiff, his breathing ragged as he shot hard inside him.

He stayed still momentarily. He had lots of words in his head, but none that he could think of sharing. He held the end of the condom and slowly pulled his still hard dick out. He slid it off and dropped it into the small trash can by the side of the bed, his breathing choppy and sweat slicking his skin. He rolled onto his back, one arm over his eyes, the other holding tight to the headboard above him, listening to Zach as he tried to settle his own breathing.

"Fuck," Ben stuttered, stare fixed firmly on the ceiling.

"Uh huh," was Zach's less than coherent response.

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Zach sat in the churchyard on his twentieth

birthday. Not for long and not in the cold dressed only in thin jeans, a tee, and wrapped in a blanket. He sat sideways on the bench, one leg pulled up under him, looking at the church. He was making new memories —his jacket warm, his jeans new— and all that was really missing was Ben.

Ben whom he lived with, Ben whom he loved. He

leaned on his folded arms along the back of the seat, focusing on the intricate detail of the old church, then closing his eyes and counting down the time until his boyfriend was here with him.

"You can't sleep here." A strong voice broke through his daydreams, and he turned to face the cop looming over him.

"Sorry, officer." He smirked, leaning back against the seat again and hooking a finger through the belt loop of Ben's jeans, causing him to stumble and catch himself with outstretched hands against the back of the bench.

"You push it, and I might just arrest you," Ben pointed out, raising his eyebrows in mock seriousness.

"Is that a promise?" Zach parried, a wide grin on his face. He tugged again until Ben stumbled to sit next to him.

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"Hell, you used to be so damn innocent. Now you just love pulling me around." They hadn't pursued this emerging caveman complex Zach seemed to be fostering.

Ben was still guiding them, Zach happy to go with the flow. Until recently, that was. He flexed a muscle in his arm and winked lewdly, pulling his lover that final inch until he could steal a kiss.

"You make it so damn easy, feeding me up and pushing me to the gym all the time." It was a standing joke.

It was actually Donna who was feeding both men up, Ben working long hours and Zach filling spare time with every single bit of studying he could. They inevitably arrived at their house at different times to find offerings from Ben's mom and neither said no. As for the gym, Zach alternated running with gym work, his lanky frame getting firmer, muscular and God, did Ben enjoy that. It was half the reason Zach kept himself in shape and improved on what he had been.

Ben pulled back slightly. "Happy birthday," he murmured against Zach's lips, and Zach tilted his head to deepen the kiss, sucking loosely at Ben's tongue in a slow sexy mockery of the lovemaking they enjoyed, to the point of exhaustion at times. No words were spoken, but it was Zach who finally broke the kiss, gripping Ben's hand and 162

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helping him to stand then starting the short walk home.

They strolled in silence for little more than ten minutes on the morning fresh streets, passing the town square where he had caught Rebecca, who lived with Donna, out past curfew with the boyfriend at Thanksgiving.

He glanced up at the clock built into the small library where he did most of his studying. It showed the time as nine-thirty, and he realized how much that simple clock face guided his day.

Ben stopped at the small convenience store, waving at Mrs. Johnson and thanking her for the doughnut delivery to the station the day before. Then he led Zach towards their home. The drapes were open, and a small tree stood in the window. The lights weren't on as they tramped up the pathway. Zach was adamant they were switched off when they left the house.

Using his key to let them in, Ben was laughing as Zach pushed him against the hall wall as soon as the door shut. Zach paused for a moment, looking into Ben's eyes filled with the absolute certainty and trust of love. He wondered how he had ever gotten so lucky.

It had been two years since they had met on that

freezing night. His dreams then consisted only of a warm room, Christmas lights, and a loving family, dreams that 163

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had been so different from the stark reality he'd lived. Two years and three days ago, give or take an hour or so.

He now lived in a world of safety, happiness and

love. With Ben beside him every step of the way, he couldn't wait to walk into the future.

The Beginning

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About the Author

RJ Scott lives just outside London. She has been writing since age six, when she was made to stay in at lunchtime for an infraction involving cookies and was told to write a story. Two sides of A4 about a trapped princess later, a lover of writing was born. She loves reading anything from thrillers to sci-fi to horror; however, her first real love will always be the world of romance. Her goal is to write stories with a heart of romance, a troubled road to reach happiness, and more than a hint of happily ever after.

Visit her at www.rjscott.co.uk, or email her

[email protected].

Other Books by R J Scott

Available at
Silver Publishing

Moments

Oracle

Kian
(Coming Soon)

The Heart of Texas
(Coming Soon)

All the Kings Men
(Coming Soon)

Available at
All Romance Ebooks

Ascension
: part of the
A Brush of Wings
anthology

Available at
Dreamspinner Press

Two Plus One