A Midnight Thanksgiving (Gay Romance) Read online

  The pressure of his lips and tongue was soft and maddening at first. Vaughn's head dropped forward so he could watch. Alex's head moved back and forth slowly, his eyes locked on Vaughn's. Vaughn was cursing under his breath and gripping the railing behind him with all his strength.

  He wanted to pump into Alex's mouth, but he knew better than to rush things like that. Worked up from sucking off Alex, he didn't know how much more he could take. Already he wanted to yell out Alex's name for the whole world to hear.

  Taking him deep and slow, Alex drove him right to the edge then pushed him over with fast suction that blew his mind. Sparks danced behind his fluttering eyelids. A jolt of pure pleasure shot up his spine. He was coming, gasping Alex's name and watching him swallow every drop of his come.

  Standing up, Alex leaned against him heavily, almost knocking him down. His head on Vaughn's shoulder, he whispered his name. Vaughn threw his arms around him to hold them both steady while they made themselves decent. Then they started to head down to the elevator on the next floor.

  For the first few steps, Vaughn's legs felt shaky, like he was just learning to walk. He wasn't the only one. Alex was slow to follow him. Noticing that he was lagging behind him, Vaughn turned around.

  From a few steps below him, Vaughn looked up and just stared. When Alex smiled at him, Vaughn blushed before he turned away. Alex came down to join him and put his arm over Vaughn's shoulder. Vaughn's arm naturally went around Alex's waist. They went down the stairs with their arms around each other, clumsy but feeling good.

  This time Alex didn't challenge him to explain himself. What would Vaughn have said? That it was another impulse? He was all impulse around Alex. But it was more than that. This was a cresting of what had been building up inside him all night.

  What they did felt so unbelievably good, and not only because he got off. It felt right and true, like a completion of something inside him that had been yearning and gone unfulfilled for so long. He didn't even know how much he needed this until he tasted Alex's come and felt him spilling down his throat. It seemed like a necessity, like something he couldn't live without.

  Out in front of the building, Vaughn pulled his jacket tighter around him and took a breath of stinging, cold air. It was a little shocking to be outside in the cold night all of a sudden. Vaughn needed a minute to get his bearings. His mind still fuzzy with thoughts of sucking off Alex, he hardly knew up from down only that he would want Alex again and might pounce on him at any second.

  They glanced around idly, not sure where to go next. Alex pointed down the street where they could see some lighted storefronts. As they turned a corner, a blast of cold air hit them hard and Alex shivered.

  "Damn. I'm cold," he complained and pulled up the collar of his jacket. "I lost my favorite scarf somewhere. The other one I have is all scratchy."

  "See how you like this one," Vaughn told him. He then took off his own scarf and wrapped it around Alex's neck.

  Petting the scarf and finding it soft, Alex smiled. "Nice. I approve. But we should share it," Alex told him and wrapped it around both of them, making Vaughn lean over sideways.

  "I'm not walking around like this."

  "OK. Fine. In that case the scarf is all mine," Alex declared and flipped the scarf around his neck.

  Vaughn agreed with that plan. "Yes. That's why I gave it to you."

  "Can I keep it forever?" Alex asked.

  "You mean can you lose it like you lost your own scarf?" Vaughn said to him archly, not that he ever planned to ask for it back. He had a feeling he would like seeing him wear it.

  "I won't lose it. I'll consider it a trophy or maybe a precious memento of a very good blowjob," Alex told him with a smirk.

  "Only very good?" Vaughn gave him a stern look out of the corner of his eye.

  "OK then, it was amazing. Now you go. How good was it for you?" Alex questioned him.

  Vaughn stared straight ahead, trying to give nothing away. "Stop fishing for compliments."

  "I'll stop fishing when you give it up. Now tell me how good I was," Alex demanded.

  "You set my soul on fire," Vaughn finally told him.

  Alex glared at him and tucked his scarf around him possessively. "I hate you," he said, not believing Vaughn's words of praise.

  But it was true, so true that it scared him. The thought of sucking him off had obsessed Vaughn, but doing it solved nothing. Now Alex obsessed him even more. His body and soul were on fire for him.

  Chapter 8

  Walking around with Vaughn's scarf around his neck, Alex was telling himself not to read too much into it. It was a meaningless gesture, and what happened in that stairwell was just some meaningless mutual satisfaction. They were tense and anxious about Zack. They needed a release. Then why the hell did it feel like so much more?

  Alex tried to convince himself that it couldn't be anything real. But what they did on that stairway was very real. And every kiss before that was real. Vaughn's hands on him, his mouth on his cock, the taste of his come, even the feel of concrete under his knees – they were still with him. Bombarded by remembered sensations still coursing through his body and over his skin, how could Alex deny that they shared something wonderful?

  The deeper meaning of some furtive, sexual activity wasn't the only thing on Alex's mind. Another issue preoccupied his thoughts. "I bet that party pumpkin pie is all gone."

  Vaughn looked at him in disbelief. "How could it be all gone? It would take an army. You're obsessed with that monster pie."

  "My feelings for that pie are purely platonic," Alex informed him.

  "Well, you don't have anything to worry about. That thing was huge. There is no way it's all gone," Vaughn said.

  His words of consolation touched Alex's heart. "Aww. You say the sweetest things."

  On the next block, Alex spotted a corner store and steered them that way. Once they were in front, he confirmed that they had coffee and gave Vaughn his marching orders. "I'll text Paul with an update. You go and get us some coffees to warm us up and keep us going."

  Vaughn wasn't moving fast enough for his liking, so Alex pushed him inside and then pulled out his phone and started texting. The nighttime air had a bite of winter to it, and Alex was glad he had Vaughn's chocolate brown scarf. It felt good for more than one reason. It was warm, it was soft and it smelled like Vaughn.

  Done with his updates, Alex put away his phone. A whirlwind of dry leaves in the corner drew his eye. Then he heard someone singing and turned to see an old, homeless lady pushing a shopping cart. Going past him, she smelled terrible as well as boozy and a little cinnamony. She was singing just loud enough for Alex to hear her cracking, mellow voice but not loud enough for him to make out the words.

  Alex smiled as he listened and at the same time looked through his pockets for a bill or two he could give her. She would probably spend it on booze, but so what? As he found a few fives among the crumpled bills he fished out of his pockets, he looked up just in time to see her shopping cart sideswipe a guy in a biker jacket. The old lady just kept going and singing to herself. The hit and run was no big deal, but this idiot wanted to make a big deal out of it just for kicks.

  "Watch it, you stinking old bitch," he said and moved on the old lady in a very aggressive way that had Alex worried for her. The guy was looming over her bent form, cursing at her while she cringed away from him.

  "Lay off her, you jerk!" Alex yelled to get his attention as he went over to make sure things didn't get ugly. He jammed the money back in his pockets so he would have his hands free, just in case. "It's Thanksgiving and it's not like she broke your damn leg." Though Alex was thinking that maybe someone should break at least one of his legs, maybe two.

  "What's it to you, oriental?" The guy said, putting a hell of a lot of emphasis on that last word, like he thought he was being clever or something.

  "Umm. Oriental? Really?" Alex scratched his head and grimaced. "Most of the time when people say that, it's because they are clu
eless, but you're actually using it as an... insult? It's an interesting choice, but it only makes me think of a rug. That's because my mom used to say, rugs are oriental, not people."

  The guy gaped at Alex stupidly for a minute. "You fucking talk too much. I think I'm going to like shutting you up. I'm gonna knock your teeth down your throat," he promised and cocked his fist back. He had forgotten all about the old lady. Now all his menace and fury were aimed at Alex, but he was still a good distance from him and not coming any closer.

  Alex wasn't impressed. "Don't pretend to be a tough guy. You aren't fooling anyone. That lady barely touched you with her shopping cart and you started bitching and moaning like a truck ran you over."

  The guy's face contorted and his eyes grew even meaner than before. "I'm gonna mess you up so bad," the guy threatened but he only edge a little toward Alex, moving sideways because he was too scared to come for him straight on.

  He was probably wondering what Alex had going on that made him so brave. Alex wasn't sure himself. Maybe he could take this guy, but he had no way of knowing for sure. Alex was kind of on the skinny side, and the last time he was in actual hand-to-hand combat was in middle school. He did win that one though, but only because the other kid tried to use moves only found in professional wrestling. That crap doesn't work in real life.

  Just as Alex was wondering how to neutralize this guy once he came at him, Vaughn came onto the scene. "What the hell is going on here?" he bellowed from behind him.

  "I was just trying to think of the name of the professional wrestling move that this kid in middle school tried to use on me then you started yelling and interrupted my train of thought," Alex said.

  Vaughn shoved two coffee cups in his hands. "I don't care what you're up to. I'm talking about that jackass over there," Vaughn said and looked at the biker jacket guy like he would rip him apart with his bare hands.

  "So you're a fag too. Sucks to be you," the guy said to Alex.

  "I'm doing just fine, you loser," Alex told him then he turned to Vaughn. "Until you made your appearance, he only called me 'oriental'. What is it about you, Vaughn, that says 'gay' so loud and clear, huh?" Alex needled him.

  Vaughn only glanced at him briefly, but the sharp look in his eyes said, "After I'm done with that guy, I might just be coming for you". That might be fun. For now, Vaughn was stalking toward that jerk, looking ready to tear him to pieces.

  Seeing Vaughn coming for him, the guy in the leather jacket was recalculating his odds in this fight. How long did it take to add one plus one? Throw in the fact that Vaughn had murder in his eyes and it was a no-brainer. Snorting, the guy walked away but shot them a look over his shoulder every few seconds like he thought they might give chase. What a lame idiot.

  "Where did that lady go?" Alex asked and looked around for her. Apparently, the old lady had simply wandered off.

  "What lady?" Vaughn asked just as Alex spotted her moving at a slow and steady pace down the street.

  It didn't take them long to catch up to her, but it wasn't easy to get her attention. She seemed to be in her own little world. Finally she stopped singing and blinked at Alex in confusion.

  "Ma'am, you just forget the way that jerk was acting and have a happy Thanksgiving," Alex told her.

  The look on her face gave the impression that she might have already forgotten. But she looked happy when Alex gave her some money.

  "It's a happy Thanksgiving now. Thanks, peaches. I'm going to buy some nice peppermint schnapps with this," she said and grinned, showing quite a few missing teeth.

  Alex grimaced at the idea of peppermint schnapps, not that anyone ever put a gun to his head and made him try it. "That sounds terrible, but it's your money now so it's lady's choice."

  "Maybe she shouldn't drink on an empty stomach. We should tell her where to get a Thanksgiving dinner," Vaughn said.

  Alex texted Ellen to find out about the nearest place for a free Thanksgiving meal. Then he told the old lady where it was. She already knew about it, but her priority was her weird peppermint booze, not food.

  She went on her way, and all that was left for them to do was wait to hear from Wayne. Now with a coffee cup in his hand, Vaughn kept himself busy by bitching at Alex like he was some kind of hooligan or something. "You picked a fight in the street on Thanksgiving. I can't leave you alone for a minute."

  "I didn't pick a fight. He picked a fight," Alex said as he sipped his lukewarm coffee without even a hint of pumpkin spice.

  "I might believe that if I had never met you before," Vaughn told him.

  "That jerk-faced creep was abusing a poor, homeless old lady on Thanksgiving, no less," Alex informed him.

  "Fine. You might be in the right this one time," Vaughn allowed. "Just don't pick any more fights I have to bail you out of."

  "The clothesline!" Alex said suddenly. "That's the name of the wrestling move."

  "I should have let that guy kick your ass," Vaughn grumbled.

  "Oh, don't even. I would have kicked his stupid face in. And I didn't ask for iced coffee, you know," Alex said and raised his cup in condemnation.

  "That's your own fault. It was hot enough when I got it, but you wanted to brawl in the street."

  Hearing his phone, Alex saw a text from Wayne about Trudy. He hadn't heard back from her, but he found out that she had planned to take Zack with her to Silo.

  Vaughn wasn't happy to hear that. "Great. Now we're going clubbing. Tonight is like a reverse bucket list. All the things I don't want to do piling up one after another."

  "Don't be so self-centered. This isn't about you. Zack might be there." Alex then realized what Vaughn just said. "Whoa, wait a minute. Am I one of the things you didn't want to do?"

  "I thought my enthusiasm was pretty obvious." Vaughn eyed him boldly, but Alex could swear that he was blushing a little at the memory.

  "Yeah, you were hot. Good thing too, because that was my first time with anyone since breaking up with Cole," Alex told him. After the breakup, he hadn't felt like jumping into anything, not even a hookup. That is, until Vaughn came along to bring his desire roaring back to life.

  "You said you broke up with him. Was he another cheater like Brad?" Vaughn asked.

  Alex didn't think Vaughn was trying to twist the knife by asking him about that, but thinking back to what happened with Cole was still pretty painful. "No, but he did believe that I was cheating on him."

  "And you didn't give him any reason?" Vaughn asked.

  "No, I didn't and don't you dare start with me. I got enough of that crap from Cole. He was a total jealous freak." Alex's brow furrowed at the memory of all the baseless accusations and how crazy Cole got over nothing. "That's why I can sympathize with Zack. I know from bad exes."

  "Sorry," Vaughn said and it sounded like he meant it. "Then maybe he was cheating on you and accusing you out of guilt."

  Alex had been so busy trying to prove his innocence to Cole, he never even considered that possibility. "You think so? I don't know. That would be classic projection, wouldn't it? I just know that he didn't trust me and it killed me. It really hurt. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get through to him."

  "It was his problem, not yours. Just try to do better next time you pick a guy," Vaughn told him.

  "Yes, sir." Alex almost asked him if he had any suggestions, but he didn't dare. Right now the only guy he could think of was Vaughn, but if they weren't on the same page, Alex would be crushed.

  Chapter 9

  While giving Alex love advice, Vaughn was gritting his teeth and trying not to think about him being with anyone but him. He couldn't be feeling possessive already. It was way too soon for that. He had no claim on Alex after just one blowjob.

  And when that creep was harassing Alex, Vaughn had been extremely protective of him. He was ready to go to war if that guy even looked at Alex funny. Idly, he wondered about what that lowlife said. He pegged the two of them as gay only after Vaughn came out of the store. Since Vaughn had alw
ays been able to pass for straight back home, he questioned if it was seeing him and Alex together that tipped him off.

  Vaughn couldn't help but consider that he and Alex might look like a couple strolling the streets on a late Thanksgiving night. And why the hell did that thought make him smile? Alex would never want to be his boyfriend, and anyway, it wouldn't work. They could never get along. That waitress was right. All the fighting and making up. There he was, smiling again. What the hell was wrong with him? It wasn't like he wanted to spend the rest of his life bickering with Alex. And he was smiling at that thought too. Fucking hell.

  As they got closer to Silo, Vaughn was almost glad. Maybe that stupid, noisy place would distract him from having weird thoughts about Alex. The line to get in wasn't too bad. The wind was chilly and brisk making Alex tuck his hands inside Vaughn's open jacket.

  "Just warming up," Alex told him.

  While they waited, Vaughn wanted to find out more about their target. "Let me guess. You know this Trudy too."

  "More or less. I know her girlfriend, Julia, better than her. Trudy has these beautiful tattoos, and she's not shy about showing them off," Alex said and flexed his arms.

  "So that's what you're into – muscles and tattoos," Vaughn said, his jealousy back in play. He never thought of himself as the jealous type but Alex was bringing out all sorts of new and unexpected sides of his personality. Vaughn felt like he was discovering who he really was and what he was really like when someone got him going properly.

  "Now you're jealous of girls?" Alex said and laughed at him.

  Yeah, he probably deserved that. Alex had him stirred up like no one else ever had before, and he was letting himself act like an idiot. It was embarrassing to be so taken with him when Alex didn't have a serious bone in his body.

  Looking at him out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the scarf. Vaughn didn't know what possessed him to give Alex his scarf. That was such a boyfriend thing to do. But that's how Alex made him feel. He wanted to do boyfriend things with him, not just suck him off in some stairwell.