Checking It Twice (Crashing Book 2) (4 page)

Alexei shifted beneath him and they both
hissed, their cocks bumping and sliding between their bodies.

“Please, Erik,” Mike begged, his voice
hoarse.

Erik’s hands left him, almost immediately
replaced by a blunt, wide pressure against his hole that Mike could guess was
Erik’s cock. It felt…
big.
Bigger even than Mike had been expecting.

Which was fucking fantastic.

When Erik didn’t move, didn’t press
forward, Mike groaned with frustration.

“I’m ready, Alexei,” Erik said.

Mike swallowed an exasperated sigh. Apparently
the damn man could play by the rules when it suited him.

Alexei’s grip changed, and now it was
his
fingers pulling Mike’s rim wide. Mike arched his back into the pressure, his
neck stretched, chin high, as he hovered there, waiting for what came next.

“Push,” said Alexei, and Mike had no idea
if Alexei was speaking to him or to Erik, but they both responded. Mike bore
down as Erik thrust forward and stretched Mike open, tight muscles he’d been
sure were loose enough burning as his body fought to reject Erik’s cock even as
he rejoiced in the desire to accept it.

He’d had this cock in his mouth. Against
his lips. He’d thought he’d known exactly how big it was, but it felt bigger,
harder, and heavier as the head pushed against him and Alexei’s fingers pulled
him open.

He whimpered, a needy sound torn from his
throat. He’d had toys this big in him. And a fist, once. But this was
different. He could feel the heat of the blood rushing beneath Erik’s skin,
hear the desperate edge to the noises Erik made, and knew he was as turned on
as Mike. 

The stretch in his ass was so consuming, he
couldn’t even respond to the feeling of Alexei’s body rubbing along his cock as
Mike writhed against him. All Mike wanted, all he cared about, was getting Erik
inside him.

The head popped past his rim and he
shuddered hard. Goddamn, that was fucking
perfect
.

Alexei and Erik both chuckled. Apparently,
he’d said that out loud.

“Push,”
Alexei said again, and this time Mike knew it wasn’t for him. He was beyond
that kind of control anyway. All he could do was dig his fingers into Alexei’s
arms and hold the fuck on as Erik slowly sank further, opening him up and
dragging along his inner walls. Mike’s knees almost buckled when that big, fat
head brushed over his prostate and kept going, the shaft then skimming over it
with a constant pressure that made Mike’s head spin.

Fuck
. That
was—it was—he felt a flair of panic. He wasn’t going to last long. Goddamn it.
He couldn’t…

“Michael, look at me.”

Mike’s eyelids felt heavy as he dragged
them open and stared down into Alexei’s face. Whatever Alexei saw made his
concerned expression morph into a smirk. “That good?” he asked teasingly.

Mike swallowed hard but still couldn’t
speak. He nodded.

“Don’t come,” Alexei said sternly.

Mike whimpered again. Hearing that, as
always,
didn’t help.
Judging by the twinkle in Alexei’s eyes, he knew it,
too.

“Erik,” Alexei said, almost
conversationally. “You should fuck Michael now.”

Erik grunted, his hips kicking and seating
his cock to the hilt. Mike’s eyes drifted closed again and he sucked a deep
breath in through his nose.

“Now, Erik.”

Mike thought he was ready, but he still
cried out as Erik slowly withdrew, dragging that insanely wide and fucking
wonderful shaft over his prostate, the head bouncing off it for an added jolt.

Mike shifted his feet to steady himself and
clung to Alexei as he drowned in the sensations storming him. He heard the rude
squelch of lube as Erik added more slick, felt it drip down his perineum and over
his balls, but none of it detracted from the amazing feeling of being so
full
as Erik thrust back in. The stretch was awesome. The drag of skin on skin. The
burn and ache of his rim. It was exactly what he wanted.

A Christmas fucking miracle.

That might have been out loud, too, but
Alexei stopped the stupid shit from pouring from his mouth by capturing it in a
kiss. Mike hadn’t even realized Alexei had let go of Mike’s ass until his hands
wrapped around his jaw and cheeks and held him steady as Erik’s thrusts picked up
speed and force.

Mike kissed Alexei back, furiously,
incapable of stopping the noises being forced up from his chest with every
thrust. His body slid over Alexei’s, sweat easing the friction between them, his
cock gliding along the crease between Alexei’s hip and thigh, otherwise forgotten.
Which was for the best, since it would take almost nothing to set him off.

Alexei tore his mouth away. “Spread your
legs further,” he coaxed, and Mike obeyed, his feet skittering across the floor.
Alexei’s hand pressed to his back. “Tilt your ass higher.”

Mike did that, too, and howled as the full
power of Erik’s thrust nailed the head of his cock against Mike’s prostate like
a pile-driver.

“Harder, Erik,” Alexei barked, his ears
ringing from Mike’s cries.

Erik listened. Alexei wasn’t sure whose
demands Erik was responding to, but it got the job done.

Soon Mike was panting against Alexei’s
neck, his fingers bruising Alexei’s arms, his vocabulary honed down to just one
word. Over and over.

“Please.”

Alexei wanted to give his boy what he
wanted, but he thought Mike would like it even better, enjoy it even more, if
he waited just a little longer.

Also, Alexei was fucking dying to come,
too. He raised his feet and planted his heels on the edge of the table,
clamping Mike’s ribs in his thighs and rolling his hips up to thrust his cock
against Mike’s trembling abs.

Alexei’s hips jerked harder, faster, but it
wasn’t fucking enough. He thrust so hard his ass lifted off the table, the
muscles in his thighs burning, and that was better. More friction, and Erik’s ever-more-powerful
thrusts moving them both.

Heat pooled at the base of his spine,
tightening the muscles in his ass and thighs, which shook as he continued to
thrust. He was about to reach down with one hand when Mike beat him too it,
shoving his arm between them and curling his fingers around Alexei’s aching
cock.

Alexei came with a shout, his thighs
squeezing Mike as he bucked up against him and spilled onto his own belly.
Shockwaves of pleasure washed over him, whiting out his brain while Mike rocked
above him from Erik’s relentless fucking.

Alexei collapsed back onto the table. When
he could manage to control his own limbs again, he pressed his hand low on
Mike’s back and brushed his lips against Mike’s ear. “My boy,” he whispered in
hoarse Russian, knowing that Mike would be able to translate this much without
effort. “Is this what you wanted?”

“Yes,” he gasped.

“Are you close?”

Mike’s only response was to whimper.

Alexei smiled. “Come.”

Mike growled, his back arching as he shoved
himself back on Erik’s cock. Erik almost stumbled, grabbing Alexei’s hips and
driving forward until the three of them were slammed together. Alexei didn’t
need to hear Mike’s howls of pleasure to imagine how that felt, to be so full
and stretched so wide.

Mike’s hands convulsed around his arms
once, then his entire body went rigid and warmth spread across Alexei’s belly.

Erik gasped. “Alexei, please.”

Alexei jolted, a little ashamed of himself
for forgetting about Erik. He just hadn’t been able to think about anything but
Mike.

“Yes, Erik. You, too.”

Mike groaned when Erik continued to thrust
into him. Alexei’s head felt light just thinking about how sensitive Mike must
be. How sore.

Erik shouted something in Swedish, too
garbled for Alexei to decipher, and curled over Mike, his shoulders bowed and
head hanging down as he shook, his hips grinding into Mike as he came.

Alexei lay on the table, still panting, as
Mike slowly lifted his head and blinked down at him. Erik’s hands left Alexei’s
hips and disappeared behind Mike a moment before Mike’s eyes widened, his mouth
dropping open. Erik slowly moved away, then stumbled toward the bathroom with a
hand holding the condom in place.

Alexei brushed a hand over Mike’s face, pushing
his damp hair back from his forehead. “How do you feel?”

Mike smiled, though Alexei could see how
wobbly it was. “Great,” he said.

Alexei slowly sat up, pushing Mike upright
with him, before dropping his feet off the table and wincing as pain shot up his
legs. Mike’s hands went to his hips, offering warmth and pressure and relief.

Alexei grumbled. “I’m not too old to have
good sex.”

A grin flashed on Mike’s face. “Obviously
not.”

“I will never be too old for good sex,” he
said firmly, to clarify.

“I should hope not,” Mike said before
kissing Alexei gently. Alexei leaned up, tracing his tongue over Mike’s lips,
intent on proving his point, but then Mike wavered on his feet.

Alexei caught him with an arm around his
waist. “Come, let’s get you to bed.”

“I should see Erik out,” Mike protested
immediately.

Alexei laughed. “I’m sure he’ll understand.
You can make it up to him the next time we see him.”

Mike was docile, more so than usual, even,
as Alexei led him to their bedroom. Alexei quickly wiped them down and tucked Mike
into bed. Mike’s eyes were already closing by the time Alexei pulled the covers
up to his shoulders. He bent to kiss Mike’s cheek.

“I’ll be back in a moment.”

Mike murmured into the pillow and smiled.
Alexei called for a cab and pulled on his robe before going back out to the
kitchen.

Erik met him wearing his clothes, his
jacket, and a terribly smug smile Alexei chose to ignore.

“Thank you,” he said earnestly.

“I think that’s my line,” Erik said with a
chuckle.

Alexei hugged him. “We’re playing you again
next month. Let’s make time to get together.”

“Like this? Or—”

“No. Not then. And maybe not again, ever,” Alexei
said honestly. “Mike and I have to talk before any plans are made in that
direction.”

“Of course.” Erik appeared to think about
what he wanted to say for a moment. “For what it’s worth,” he began hesitantly,
“I’m glad we broke up if it means you get to be with Mike. He’s perfect for
you, isn’t he?”

He was, Alexei thought, in far more ways than
Erik would ever see or understand. He smiled gratefully and chose to ignore
Erik’s insinuation that he had, at some point, regretted dumping Alexei’s ass
four years ago.

Alexei’s phone chimed and he looked down at
it. “Your cab is here.”

“Not going to drive me to my hotel?” Erik
asked, pretending to be put out.

Alexei opened the door. “No. Mike needs
me.”
And you don’t come close to outranking that.
“Do you need help with
the elevator?”

“Nah, I got it,” Erik said with a
good-natured smile and a last quick hug. “You go take care of your boy.”

Alexei arched an eyebrow, but said nothing
about Erik’s choice of words. Erik didn’t speak Russian, though, so it had to
be a lucky guess. Alexei waited in the hall until the elevator closed before
hurrying back to the bedroom. He stripped off his robe and climbed into bed,
pulling Mike close until he lay boneless over Alexei’s chest.

“Is Erik okay?” Mike murmured against his
throat.

“Yes.” Alexei said as he ran his hand down
Mike’s ribs and over his hip. Mike scooted closer, curling an arm around
Alexei’s torso and hitching one leg up over his hips.

Alexei smiled. He knew what Mike was asking
for.

He kissed Mike gently and teased two
fingers over his swollen rim. Mike shivered, quietly humming his pleasure. Alexei
could only imagine how sore and sensitive the entire area was as he gathered
what little lube was left after his clean up.

When Mike squirmed, as if trying to get
even closer, Alexei pressed his fingers through the tight, hot ring of muscles.

“
Oh god
.”

“Good?”

“Yesss,” Mike hissed.

Alexei was fairly impressed to feel Mike’s
cock start to harden against his hip. He began to plunge his fingers in and out
of Mike’s poor, abused hole.

Mike let out a huge sigh. “Thank you.”

“For this?” Alexei asked with a smile,
tugging at Mike’s rim and making him shudder.

“No. Well, yes,” he said, and Alexei could
feel Mike’s smile against his skin. “But also for tonight. Best Christmas
present ever.”

Alexei’s hand froze until Mike mewled in
protest. He resumed thrusting into Mike, teasing his rim with a third finger.
Mike hitched his leg higher, opening himself up in an invitation Alexei had no
intention of refusing. It was a tight fit.

Mike gasped, but it was a happy sound.

“Michael,” Alexei asked curiously. “What
exactly do you think was your Christmas present?”

Mike hummed contentedly. “You know,” he said
softly, though it sounded a little bit like a question.

Alexei chuckled and didn’t bother to clarify.

Mike woke up with a start, sprawled out
across the bed on his stomach. He would have thought it was just a bad dream
that caused him to wake if Alexei hadn’t bolted upright in bed beside him.

Someone pounded on the door at the same
moment that Mike’s phone started to buzz on the nightstand.

Alexei put a hand on Mike’s back before he
jumped from the bed and tugged on his robe. “You stay here. I’ll go see what’s
going on.”

There were only so many people who knew
where they lived, let alone how to get to their door, so Mike wasn’t worried,
per se. Though it wasn’t like any of those people to beat down their door
at—Mike reached for his phone—six o’clock in the morning. And on Christmas Eve—
a
day off
—no less.

Mike was alarmed to see he’d already missed
two calls from Rupert and three from Callum. He didn’t bother to call either of
them back, though, as he could just make out Rupert’s voice through the bedroom
door.

He sounded worked up about something.

Mike dropped his head back onto the pillow
and gave himself a couple minutes to wake up properly while he waited for
Alexei to return. He’d been looking forward to having a long, lazy morning in
bed, and was still holding out hope that it would be possible.

When Alexei came swinging through the
bedroom door, already shrugging out of his robe on the way to the bathroom,
that hope was extinguished.

“What’s up?” Mike called after him.

“I’m not sure,” Alexei admitted, his voice
echoing against the tiles a moment before the shower turned on. He immediately
returned to the bedroom, steam billowing out the door behind him. “Gabriel
called, apparently, and Rupert and Callum need to go to Pathways. They asked if
we could hang out with the boys until they get back.”

Mike lifted his head from the pillow. “Is
everything okay?” The Pathways Center was a local family and youth shelter and
community center, and Gabriel its director. Mike and Alexei, along with Rupert
and Callum and more and more of the Ice Cats organization, volunteered there
often and knew the center, and its staff, well.

“Yes. I think so. Rupert seemed excited, at
least, but I have no idea what about. I just agreed we’d get over there in the
next half hour. We can make the kids breakfast.”

Dreams of sleeping in and lazing in bed
with Alexei gone, Mike nodded his agreement and jumped to his feet. He
immediately swayed and reached for the bed post, but Alexei caught him first.

“Woah,” Alexei said, wrapping his arms
around Mike. “You okay?”

Mike huffed out a laugh. “Yeah,” he said, a
slow smile forming, “I’m great.”

He’d woken up aware that his ass was sore,
his rim hot and swollen. But he hadn’t realized his legs would still shake, or that
the heat would spread through him like this.

His cock twitched, filling, as he stood
still and took stock of myriad aches and pains and delicious little pleasures.

Alexei glanced down, saw Mike’s erection,
and arched one eyebrow. Mike grinned. Goddamn, he felt
awesome
.

“Come,” Alexei said. With a steadying hand
on Mike’s back, Alexei led him into the steamy bathroom and into the shower.
The hot water felt fantastic, and Mike stepped directly under the spray,
letting it pour over his head and splash onto Alexei as he wrapped his arms
around Mike’s waist and curled his hand around Mike’s cock.

From there, it didn’t take long. Just long
enough for Alexei to thrust two fingers into Mike’s aching hole and tap his
prostate while stroking his fist along Mike’s shaft. It was quick enough, in
fact, to leave time for Mike to drop to his knees and show Alexei how very,
very much Mike appreciated his Christmas gift from the night before.

As soon as they were done cleaning up, they
pulled on some clothes and started out of the apartment. Alexei stopped Mike
with a hand on his arm. “Do you want some cream?” Alexei asked, referring to
the special ointment they kept for those time Mike needed to be able to play
hockey—or do anything else—without the twinges from his ass.

Mike smiled. “No.”

Today, he wanted to feel every second of it
and savor his gift.

They let themselves into Rupert and
Callum’s apartment to find the usual chaos unfolding around them. Rupert was in
the kitchen on the phone, pouring a cup of coffee, while his husband, Callum,
was coming out of their bedroom with his head lost in the sweater he was
pulling on. Their eldest, Christian, reached him just in time to prevent Callum
from walking directly into a wall.

Christian rolled his eyes with the despair for
a parent only a thirteen year old could manage.

Callum’s head popped through the neck hole.
“Oh, hey, guys. Thanks for coming over so quickly.”

“No problem,” Mike said, peering over the
back of the couch. As he’d suspected, Oliver was curled up under a blanket,
zoning out with Curious George on the TV. At five years old, he was getting a
little old for the show, but it was still his favorite for when he was half
asleep or stressed out. Mike studied his little face for a moment and
determined this was the former.

“Oliver,” he said, brushing his hand over
the mop of dark, silky hair poking out of the blankets, “are you still going to
help me later?”

Oliver smiled up at him. “I will, if you
still need my help.”

“I do,” Mike promised. He just had to
figure out when he was going to convince Alexei to go out and do the last of
his holiday shopping now that their plans had been put into a bit of a
tailspin. Mike needed Alexei gone long enough to wrap the last of his gifts, a
task Mike had promised Oliver he could help with.

Mike glanced over at the enormous tree in
the corner of the living room and smiled. It had all of Rupert and Callum’s,
and
Mike and Alexei’s, ornaments this year. With the travel schedule what it was,
and Rupert and Callum’s invitation to spend Christmas here with them, Mike and
Alexei hadn’t bothered to get a tree this year, opting instead to share one
with the family across the hall.

Their family.

Mike startled when Rupert ran up and hugged
him. “Thank you so much for being here,” Rupert said, far more earnestly than
last-minute childcare duties—which they did all the time—seemed to warrant.

“Always,” Mike said automatically, because
he had no idea what Rupert’s deal was this morning and because it was true.

“Come on, duchess,” Callum said patiently
from the door.

Rupert grinned at all of them, kissed the boys
goodbye, and flew out of the apartment.

Alexei and Mike shared a long look.
What
the hell was that?

Alexei shrugged and went back to making
breakfast.

Alexei smirked as he walked back into
Rupert and Callum’s apartment later that morning, amused by Oliver and Mike
dashing to the tree to tuck a pile of newly-wrapped gifts in amongst the others
already stacked there. He winked at Mike over Oliver’s head, then pretended to
be oblivious when Oliver turned to squint up at him suspiciously.

He’d been practicing his perfectly innocent
face all the way home from his shopping expedition. He and Mike would be busy
that night assembling their big gift to Christian and Oliver and their fathers.
Alexei was still torn about whether it was enough of a gift to give Rupert and
Callum, but he was stumped on what else they could give two men who had become
like brothers to them over the past year.

It was a tricky year for Christmas present
all around, for Alexei. He was pretty sure he’d gotten the perfect gift for
Mike. As certain as he felt, he still had bouts of nerves. But watching Mike
run his hands through Oliver’s hair and smiling at Christian, the huge tree
glowing behind him, the nerves weren’t anywhere to be found.

Mike came over to where he hovered in the
doorway still and kissed him hello. “How’d it go?”

Alexei grimaced, recalling the past two
hours. “Remind me to never, ever put off shopping until Christmas Eve again. It
would take an honest-to-god Christmas miracle to get me to go back into a store
again today.”

Mike laughed and kissed him again, perhaps
thinking that would soothe Alexei’s ragged nerves.

And, actually, it worked.

Alexei and Mike both cocked their heads
when they felt the vibrations from the elevator through the floor. Rupert and
Callum, after disappearing for several hours, were apparently home.

Alexei wondered what they could possibly
have been up to. They’d answered his texts with enough vague non-answers to
make Alexei suspect they had a surprise in store.

Nothing could have prepared him for what
that surprise was.

Mike opened the door to the apartment when
the lift came to a stop, and the boys turned to look as Rupert came through the
door with a huge grin on his face, followed closely by Callum carrying a small
bundle of blankets. He was grinning, too.

He stopped and then carefully turned the
bundle so they could all see what was tucked inside.

A baby.

Alexei’s heart stopped as tiny blue eyes
stared vaguely at all of them.

Christian shot to his feet from the couch.

Oliver ran to Callum. “Who is that?”

Callum crouched down so Oliver could see
the baby better, and they all leaned in. Mike’s hand slipped into Alexei’s, and
he jolted when Christian ran into him in order to peer over his shoulder. He
hadn’t been aware he’d stopped breathing when his eyes had locked onto that
perfect little face.

“This,” Callum said, putting his arm around
Oliver’s shoulder and pulling him closer, “is Eleanor.”

Christian slid past Alexei and knelt in the
middle of their little circle. Callum slipped the baby—Eleanor—into Christian’s
arms, careful to support her until he was certain Christian had her safely
tucked close.

Christian looked down at the little girl
like he’d never seen anything like her. Or anything so beautiful. “Is she
ours?” he asked with wonder in his voice.

Rupert leaned against Alexei and let out a
damp chuckle. Alexei immediately wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

“She’s going to stay with us,” Rupert explained.

“Forever?” Oliver asked, hopeful.

Callum looked up at his husband, and Alexei
wasn’t surprised to see Oliver wasn’t the only one practically radiating hope.

“We’re not sure,” Rupert admitted slowly. “Eleanor’s
mother was staying at Pathways, but sometime last night she disappeared. Gabriel
called us because we’re registered foster parents, and he knows” —Rupert
swallowed heavily— “that we would want to take care of her if her mother
couldn’t.”

Christian and Oliver both nodded, as if this
were obvious.

“Just like you did when my mom left me,”
Oliver said in a perfectly matter-of-fact voice.

Callum pulled the little boy closer. “Yeah,
Ollie. Just like that.”

“What if she comes back?” Oliver asked, and
it was clear he was worried.

“She might,” Callum admitted, “but we told
Gabriel that if she did, we would welcome her here, too. Even if it’s just to
visit.”

“Like I do with my dad now?” Christian
asked. He’d seen his father a handful of times since he’d successfully managed
sobriety for six months straight. Christian had refused at first, but agreed to
it after his father had signed away custody permanently to Rupert and Callum.
Though he still wouldn’t go without one of his new fathers, Mike, or Alexei
with him.

“Maybe like that,” Callum said, though it
was clear he didn’t really know what was going to happen. “It’s a little
different than with your father. Eleanor’s mother is very young.” He looked at
Christian and frowned. “Not much older than you. She’s fourteen.”

“Oh, no,” whispered Mike. “That’s…did she
have somewhere to go?”

“Gabriel is trying to figure that out. Her
parents, apparently, are not an option.”

For a moment no one said anything. Of the
six—now seven, Alexei supposed—of them, only Callum shared a close relationship
with his biological parents. The rest of them had built a family with each
other. A family, it seemed, that had more than enough room in their hearts for
one more.

Oliver stroked the tuft of hair on Eleanor’s
head, and she was so tiny that even his little hand looked large by comparison.
Alexei experienced a wave of protectiveness so fierce, it felt like panic.

She was so small. So vulnerable. And all
she had was them. Which, actually, was pretty fucking great. But there was work
to be done.

“She needs a crib,” he said, out of
nowhere. Eleanor startled, her face scrunching up for a moment. Everyone seemed
to hold her breath until she settled back to gazing curiously at Christian.

Callum laughed quietly. “She needs a lot
more than that,” he said, his voice low. He stood and went back out into the
hallway, returning with a grocery sack and tattered backpack. “All we have is
formula and the few things Eleanor’s mother left behind.”

Christian went to stand up and Rupert
reached to steady him and Eleanor. When Christian looked alarmed, Alexei acted
without thinking.

He plucked Eleanor from his arms and held
her in his hands.

Literally.

She fit into his hands. With room to spare.

Mike hooked his chin over Alexei’s shoulder
and ran a finger down Eleanor’s cheek. “She’s beautiful.”

Alexei thought that if his biology had been
different, he might have ovulated on the spot. The pang of longing was sharper
than any he’d felt. Before, he’d known, vaguely, that he wanted to have
children one day. He knew Mike did, too. Now that went from vague hope for the
future to something that felt a lot more like
the plan
.

He was also never more certain that he’d
got Mike the right gift for Christmas.