I Heard Him Exclaim (5 page)

“She’s fine like this, I think. If you make up the air mattress, I’ll sleep on the floor in here.”

“Great, we can go into the living room and inflate it and I’ll get you that beer.”

“Gods, yes.” Chandler gave Poppy a light kiss on the forehead and straightened. “Perfect.”

***

Steve had his work cut out for him with Chandler’s nerves. Dave, his older brother, had been the first among them to have kids. He’d gotten his girlfriend pregnant the summer before college. After their kid was born Dave and his wife Alice had seemed practically insane for the first few months between lack of sleep and increased responsibility. Steve had still been living at home back then and their mom had threatened to rip the phone out of the wall if Dave didn’t just relax and learn to trust himself.

Steve didn’t know Chandler all that well, but he seemed like a good guy. Poppy’s parents would hardly have done what they had to ensure that Poppy stayed with Chandler if he weren’t, and where the wife was concerned, that was an even better argument. A mother wouldn’t leave the care of her child to someone just because he was a relative. She had to have trusted him as well. Which probably meant that Chandler just needed to learn to trust himself too…

Steve led the now-quiet Chandler into the kitchen where he took two bottles of Corona from the fridge. “Lime?”

“No, thanks.” Chandler simply looked at the bottle in his hand. Steve took it back and opened it on an old-fashioned bottle opener he had screwed to the wall.

“Oh, hey. Haven’t seen one of those since I was a kid.”

“I keep a Coke machine in the shop out back. With those little bottles, you know? For the kids. They like that. I put an opener in here too ’cause I like imported beer best.”

“That’s cool. May I?” Chandler motioned toward the fridge.

Steve nodded. “Sure. Go ahead.”

Chandler opened the door of the big refrigerator, which was on the empty side. He pulled one of the small Coke bottles out and examined it. “This brings back memories of road trips. We’d get to those tiny Midwestern towns, and there’d be a machine in the gas station. Coke, 7UP, Bubble Up. Orange Crush.”

“What do you call soft drinks?”

Chandler grinned. “Pop. Why?”

Steve smiled and leaned over to press his lips to Chandler’s. He pulled back less than an inch, only enough that when he spoke,
sotto voce
, his lips still brushed over Chandler’s. “Because I asked. Because that tells me you’re not from around here, where we call them sodas. You don’t use
Coke
as the ubiquitous term, and you’re not from the South, because you don’t say ‘a cold drank.’”

“I see.” Chandler kissed him back, stepping into him so they were hip to hip,

“I was kidding about that
drank
one, but… Uh-huh.”

Oh yeah. Their beers forgotten, they tasted each other. Their free hands followed up, his cupping Chandler’s face and Chandler’s—wow—was working its way into the waistband of his pants in the back, looking for skin. Steve wished he could ignore the fact that every time they came up for air, Chandler looked over his shoulder to the hallway and the guest room where Poppy was tucked in bed, probably sleeping like the angel she was. Steve wasn’t sure Chandler even realized he was doing it. He just couldn’t seem to help himself.

“Stop.”

Chandler drew back, surprised. “Hmm?” Steve saw him trying to process the word
stop
while his little head was doing his thinking. Apparently it didn’t understand. “What?”

“Finish your beer and then I’ll show you something, all right?”

“Steve—”

“It’s okay.” Steve leaned over to nuzzle Chandler’s neck. “Take a minute to finish your beer.”

They stood in the kitchen drinking their Coronas in silence until they were drained, then when they’d finished Steve took Chandler’s hand and led him back to the front door. “First, look here. There’s an alarm system. All the exterior windows and the sliders are wired, along with the front door. Nobody gets in or out without us knowing, and it’s on right now, so don’t open windows and doors unless you tell me first, all right?”

“Sure.”

Steve led Chandler down the hall toward the back of the house. “My bedroom is at the end of that hall, to the right. There are smoke detectors in each, one in the hall, and one in the kitchen.” Steve couldn’t help it; he started mimicking a flight attendant. “The exits include the front door, the slider in the kitchen, and that door at the end of the hall, which is a guest bathroom but also has a door leading out to the backyard. There’s a hot tub, but I keep it covered and lock the cover down because kids are in and out of here all the time.”

“So your house is kind of childproofed?”

“I like to keep it pretty safe. Any of the kids can stay here if their folks need a break. I had a nephew who kept getting into trouble at school so he stayed with me for a couple of weeks in October while his folks cooled down. It’s handy, because it’s still in the neighborhood and we’re all family.”

“That’s a good arrangement.”

“They say it takes a village.”

Chandler laughed. “You guys have your own sprawling metropolis.”

“I admit that.” Steve nodded. “But what I wanted to show you is this.” He went to the closet in the hall by the door and pulled out a box. If he could find what he was looking for… “Ah. Here it is.”

Steve pulled out a large metal loop attached to a long leather strip which had a row of sleigh bells sewn on it. He held it carefully still, and even then its muted jingle was loud in the quiet house. He led Chandler down the hall and gently placed it on the doorknob of the guest room.

“
Voilà.
Early warning system.” He held his hand out to Chandler. “What do you say we go to the living room and canoodle while you’re still young and hot?”

Chandler let himself be tugged into the living room where Steve maneuvered him onto the long leather sofa. The room itself was comfortably masculine, a little rustic, warm and inviting. Just like the man.

Chandler hadn’t had a drink for three weeks and he’d picked at his food, so he had a pleasant buzz going. Most important of all, he felt for the first time in days he wasn’t free-falling through space with the certainty that there was an unscheduled and highly painful landing in his near future.

“Gods.” He dropped his head forward when Steve massaged the back of his neck. It was such pure bliss, such an unexpected pleasure, he moaned out loud.

“So tight,” Steve murmured from a place right next to his ear. There was a richness, a resonance to his voice that was exacerbated by the way he lowered it to keep it quiet. Nothing caught Chandler in the gut like a man’s deep voice in his ear. Hot breath on his neck always followed. He closed his eyes and gave in to the pure wicked pleasure of it. Gentle hands turned him a little, and soon they were working all the big muscles in his back. Kneading and smoothing his skin, pulling the tension out of him like an exorcism. “You just relax, now. You’re safe with me.”

Chandler smiled. “Yeah. ’Cause no one ever lies about that…”

Steve’s hands stilled. “You think I’m lying?”

Chandler shook his head, and the hands started up again, magically obliterating his last shred of resistance. “No.”

“You are safe here, you know.” Steve kept smoothing and soothing, working the lumbar vertebrae and then his lower back, until he gripped Chandler’s hips, fitting his fingertips into the hollows of his pelvis next to his dick. Steve paused there without moving, poised, ready to work the fastening, but still for a nerve-shattering, breathless minute. “May I?”

“You’re sure we’ll hear her?”

“If she opens that door, the people next door will hear her.” Steve kissed Chandler’s neck and rubbed his lips over the skin below his ear. “I’ll be dressed. You’ll grab a throw pillow, and we’re only watching television.”

Chandler gave himself a minute to think while Steve picked up the remote and turned the set on.
Headline News
, with the volume low enough that if Poppy called out for him he’d hear. “All right.”

“Thank fuck.” Steve’s hands slid all the way around Chandler to his fly, where he unfastened first the button and then the zipper. “Thank
fuck
, I’ve wanted to do this since I laid eyes on you.”

With the first electric touch of Steve’s callused hands on his cock—
holy cow
—Chandler’s head fell back on Steve’s muscled shoulder. A bristly chin scrubbed the skin along his neck as soft lips pressed kisses just below his ear. For such large hands, they were gentle—maybe even a little too gentle. Chandler didn’t say anything and even resisted the urge to push into Steve’s hands. Everything felt so good, so right, he thought it would be fine to let it play out, to leave the control to Steve and see where it went.

“Have you got a little buzz on board?”

Steve’s voice could make him come. He was doing that on purpose, rumbling low and slow, his lips and voice arousing one part of Chandler’s body while his hands started to explore.

“Yeah.” Chandler turned his face toward Steve and kissed his chin. One of Steve’s hands cupped his balls, rolling them gently, while the other pulled his cock, a long, tight stoke that ended with the roughness of four fingertips as each one slipped over the tip. Steve did it again, a long pull, and then a twist and stroke over the head. Chandler’s breath hitched. “Ah,
yes.
Just like that.”

“I’ll take care of you.” Steve turned his head and captured Chandler’s mouth for a kiss that devoured the moans his hands were drawing out.

Chandler’s eyes closed and his spine arched. “Been a while…”

“Let yourself go,” Steve said between kisses. “I’ll catch you.”

Chandler grunted when he felt his control slipping. He grabbed on to Steve’s arms where they wrapped around him and held on. The languid stroking gave way to a firmer, faster touch. Steve encouraged him to lift his hips and find his own rhythm, and in very short order he was jabbing his cock into Steve’s closed fist. He clenched his teeth and grunted as he blew, hot and sticky, into Steve’s hands.

Steve didn’t stop kissing him; he didn’t move his hands but gentled them, cradling Chandler’s softening cock, holding it almost reverently as Chandler’s heart rate slowed and his breathing evened out. Steve’s touch changed into the sweetest thing, tender and relaxing. It felt like slipping into a hot tub after a hard run.

“Better?”

“Hell yes.” Chandler kept his eyes closed and drifted.

Somewhere Steve found tissues and cleaned him up without shifting him from his lap. That deep voice rumbled next to his ear, soothing and erotic at the same time.

“You have a great face. You know that? When you come you look like an angel having some kind of an ecstatic vision… I just noticed a tiny scar on your lip. I plan to kiss that some more later… Kick your shoes off and put your feet up on the couch.”

Chandler did exactly that, and when Steve turned him so he was stretched across his lap, his torso in Steve’s arms, he didn’t complain. He only wound his arms around Steve’s neck and tucked his face in.

“Can I stay like this for a while?” he asked. “Is it okay?”

“As long as you like,” Steve whispered. “I’m not going anywhere.”

***

“Have mercy,” Steve whispered some twenty minutes later, when Chandler started to snore. He made a patently silly sound, really. Not loud enough to be considered an actual snore, it was more of a suctiony sound, with a sweet little hitch at the end and then a deep, deep sigh. Steve doubted that Chandler would wake up until morning unless he or Poppy woke him up. He spent what he thought was probably an embarrassingly long time watching Chandler sleep. He hoped Poppy wasn’t the kind of kid who would be frightened if she found herself in a strange room. He decided he should wake Chandler in a few more minutes and then help him get that air mattress ready.

It wasn’t really necessary for him to be sitting here, holding a sleeping man in his arms, but the feel of it—a heart beating solidly against his chest, the softness of a sleeping man’s breath against his neck… He wasn’t about to end that too soon.

He’d found it necessary to shift once or twice when Chandler rustled against his cock, and even that, even being aroused with no release in sight, felt good.

“You’re just an armful of hot, aren’t you?” he whispered. “Hot man, hot water, hot mess.”

“Hmm?” Chandler tightened his arms and blinked. “I like your voice. Did I sleep?”

“I think you catnapped.” Steve smiled down at him.

“What did I miss?”

“Nothing really. The news. Apparently six people were arrested for starting a naked flashmob in the Glendale Galleria.”

“I’ve been to the Glendale Galleria. A naked flashmob could only improve it.”

Steve realized something. “You know? I don’t even know where you live.”

“Poway.” Chandler sat up, tucked himself in and zipped his pants. “Near San Diego.”

“That’s a long drive, to Pahrump.”

“Oh, fuck me, I forgot.” Chandler jumped up. “Did my phone ring while I was asleep?”

“No. I’d have woken you.”

“I’m going to call the hospital. I can’t believe I fell asleep like that.”

“I’ll go get that air mattress and pump it up, all right?”

Chandler waved his assent as he thumbed the keys of his BlackBerry, and maybe Steve felt a little dismissed. He turned to walk away but then a hand caught his. He glanced back at Chandler, who pulled him back for a kiss.

“Thank you.” Chandler aimed a series of quick, light kisses at various parts of Steve’s face. Steve felt his cheeks heat but let Chandler have control. “You saw exactly what I needed and gave it without asking for anything in return. Who does that?”

Steve looked down. He wasn’t much good at this part of things. “Apparently I do. It was just a handjob and a nap. You don’t have to be Dr. Phil to figure out that a guy might need that.”

Chandler squeezed his hand. “Don’t do that. You were magic. This whole night, you’ve been so good to us.”

Steve took the compliment like a man, didn’t even utter the
aw, shucks
that wanted so badly to escape him. “Thank you.”

Chandler pressed another kiss to his forehead and Steve figured he’d better go before he started grinning like a clown. Because that was
so
going to happen, and then he’d have to kill himself.

“I’ll just go get…”

Chandler nodded and took the phone in the direction of the kitchen. “Yes, this is Chandler Tracey and I believe my sister Courtney Wallace is in labor and delivery…”

Steve got the air mattress out of the coat closet and plugged in the pump. While it inflated, he tried to hide his curiosity, tried to quell his certainty that he was already in too deep.

Chandler came back into the living room yawning, but he dropped onto the couch beside Steve with a sigh that sounded like relief.

“So?”

“So. They stopped her labor—we’ve got a reprieve for a while—but it’s going to be touch and go. I talked to Courtney’s husband and he said she’s going to stay in the hospital until they stabilize her blood pressure. It’s not going to be easy on her. But the good news is she and the baby are both okay.”

“Is there anything you need to do?”

“No. My mom and dad are expected to land any minute and they’ll take a cab directly to the house and relieve the person who’s watching the kids. They’re going to stay as long as they’re needed.”

“So you’re really going to spend Christmas with me?”

Chandler yawned again. “Yep. You’re stuck with us.”

“C’mon.” Steve disconnected the pump from the air mattress after testing it for doneness. “This is cooked. Let’s get it in to the guest room and I’ll give you some linens.”

They maneuvered the twin-size inflatable bed down the hall and Steve held it while Chandler carefully removed the bells from the door. He barely whispered as he put them down on the floor. “These bells are genius, by the way. I was able to relax in a way I didn’t believe I could.”

Steve put the bed on the far side of the guest room and then left to find bedding. When he returned, he tossed pillows and cases to Chandler. He got it made up not a second too soon. The smudges under Chandler’s eyes looked like bruises.

“Get a good night’s sleep.” Steve flashed on the feel of Chandler’s cock in his hands, the memory of feeling him fly apart in his arms. He leaned against the door as Chandler took off his shoes and socks.

“You’ve even got great feet.”

“No.” Chandler looked down then back up. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. Perfect everything, if you ask me… Sleep well, lots to do tomorrow.”

“What?” Chandler tucked his socks into his shoes and got up.

“I didn’t decorate my house this year because I thought I wouldn’t be home. But now I have to. It’s a matter of honor.”

“Ah.” Chandler came toward him, a wicked slow grin on his lips. “Honor.”

“Yeah. I have a reputation to live up to.”

“I see.” Chandler trapped him against the wall and kissed him again. The man did some fine kissing. Probably more than anyone Steve had been with for a while. He liked it. “Maybe tomorrow you’ll tell me why you were running away from all this to spend Christmas in Las Vegas?”

Steve’s lips still tingled when Chandler pulled away. “I will. If you still want to know.”

“I want to know everything about you.” Chandler’s lips met his again, sure and strong.

“Okay.” Steve backed out the door, took a last look in. He wasn’t the kind of guy who wondered about fate too much. He didn’t think looking a gift horse in mouth was a great idea. Horses had disgusting mouths for the most part.

But Chandler was another matter. Chandler’s mouth was sweet and supple. He sucked on Steve’s tongue like a promise and invited Steve to fuck his mouth with his own tongue until he was ready to spin him around, right there, and fuck him for real against the wall of his guest room.

And it was for damned sure Poppy wouldn’t sleep through that.

“’Night.”

Chandler’s eyes were tired and he looked punch drunk. A little confused. “’Night.”

Steve closed the door behind him and managed not to curse until he got to his own room.

“Fuck. Me.” He threw himself on the bed and held an imaginary conversation. “No, Chandler. I’m serious…I really mean it.
Fuck me.
”