“I met them,” Tenner acknowledged. “At Pat and Desi’s twentieth. You were out of town, but there was a big to-do. They’re….” He smiled wistfully. “It’s like if you could fill out a special-order form for parents, you guys got the best set. Too bad they’re limited edition, you know?”
Ross grinned, filing the quiet sadness away again, wondering when he and Ten would get to unpack that. “Yeah, well, we didn’t know that when we were kids, but I sure haven’t taken them for granted as an adult. Anyway, I wasn’t looking too hot, and my mom asked me what was wrong one morning on the way to school, and I unloaded. I was so scared. This was our world and we weren’t doing anything. So she kept me home, and we spent the day looking up things I could do. And you know, I was in, like, the sixth grade, and school had been easy, and I hadn’t really cared that much about it. But once I found out what sort of grades you had to have to become an environmentalist, to go out and do what I’m doing now—I’ll tell you what. My grades were top-notch. I got into UC Davis on a full ride. It’s like… like she gave me the power to do what I had to fix the world, you know?”
“That’s amazing.” Tenner breathed softly, and Ross felt all that wonder deep in his soul.
Had anybody ever looked at him like that? He wanted to taste that appreciation, and he leaned forward, brushing Tenner’s mouth with his own, just as the timer went off.
“Fuck,” Ross muttered, put out. He stood up and got the steak out, then left it to rest on the stovetop while he turned off the oven and started on the salad.
“Here,” Tenner said practically, “let me help.”
“No, no.” Ross shook the bag of salad into the bowl they’d used the week before. “I… I’ve never seen this sort of organization in my honor before. I want to give it the appreciation it deserves.”
Tenner sighed and sat down. “Does it bother you?” he asked. “That I tried to… I don’t know.”
“Make things special?” Ross turned and smiled at him. “Not at all. I’m not usually that guy in people’s lives, you know? That special guy? It… it means a lot to me. I want to do my part.”
He heard Tenner swallow from across the kitchen and went back to fixing dinner.
DINNER CONVERSATION flowed pretty freely after that, but they both seemed conscious of not having too much wine.
Just enough.
Just enough to bring out the flavor of the meat (and Tenner’s marinade was sort of wonderful as it was) and to give a late dinner in their pajamas a hint of occasion. When they were done and the leftovers stowed and the dishwasher set on cycle, Ross grabbed Tenner’s hand again, tugging him out of the kitchen.
“There’s gelato in the freezer,” Tenner said, and for a moment, Ross thought he was going to get away.
“Later,” he said throatily. God, that look in Tenner’s eyes—dark earth brown with a hint of sepia, with the wonder and the appreciation and oh my God, the dry sense of humor—made him yearn for sweetness you didn’t ordinarily find in the bottom of a gelato carton.
“We just ate,” Tenner said, allowing himself to be herded up the stairs. “I may have gas.”
“I don’t care,” Ross said. “I’ve done this before. I know the dangers.”
“But—”
Ross shoved him up the last step and caught up, pulling his shoulder so they were face-to-face.
“I got tested Monday,” he said, leaning his forehead against Tenner’s. “All clear. Have you changed your mind?” he asked seriously.
Tenner’s mouth, usually lean and tight-lipped, parted, and he wet it with a pink tongue. “All clear?” God, he probably still tasted like wine.
“No condoms, if you don’t want. You’ll feel me come inside you.” Tenner’s little gasp made him swell. “Have you changed your mind?”
“No,” Tenner whispered. “No, just—”
Ross had been a good boy. There had been dinner and conversation, carnations, daisies, and wine.
And this man, looking at him like he was important and fascinating, and baiting him and debating him and giving Ross a safe place to be himself in the midst of what nobody knew better than Ross was a big scary world.
Ross had earned this, earned Tenner’s little whimper of surrender, earned his no-bullshit kiss back, the way he cupped Ross’s cheeks and took over his mouth without hesitation.
Tenner whirled Ross around and backed him against the wall, taking over with such ease, Ross wondered what fantasies Tenner had been entertaining.
“Just what?” Ross asked, tilting his head back so Tenner could nip at his neck, his collarbone under his T-shirt, his jaw.
“Just nothing,” Tenner said. He shoved his hands under Ross’s shirt, and Ross sighed in appreciation. Slightly rough, callused with work and play, Tenner swept his palms up and down Ross’s chest, kneading, scraping lightly with his nails, pinching—“Ah! Oh, man!” His nipples were ultra-sensitive.
Ross stripped his shirt off right there in the hallway and gave Tenner full access, and Tenner, oh yes, went straight for his nipples again.
“Mmm… okay, do that as long as you want,” Ross purred, massaging Tenner’s scalp under his hair. Tenner spent a long time pleasuring one side, until Ross couldn’t stop himself from rocking his hips back and forth in need. With a sudden switch, Tenner was on the other nipple, and Ross felt helpless, exposed, while he gave Tenner permission to ravish him.
“Gah! Ten, you’re killing me here!”
“Your skin tastes magical,” Tenner muttered, and before Ross could laugh or widen his eyes and remark that was the weirdest thing anyone had said to him while making out, Tenner sank to his knees and stripped Ross’s sleep pants down to his ankles, and his boxer briefs with them.
“Here?” he asked, surprised.
“Oh my God.” Tenner was staring at Ross’s cock, fully erect and sticking straight out, with hunger in his eyes. His breath fanned the sensitive head, and Ross dropped his hand to stroke his own length, but Tenner stopped him.
“Please?” Tenner begged.
“Yeah, sure, why not.” Ross leaned against the wall, eyes closed, Tenner’s firm grip along his shaft a tender form of torture.
“I didn’t even get to see it,” Tenner told him, his tongue flicking out to tease the head between words.
“That’s a shame.” Oh God, his grip was so tight, so sure. Ross was going to expire, on the rug in the hallway, naked.
“Do you know how long I’ve dreamed about sucking your cock?” Tenner’s voice rose, and his stroking kept up firmly.
“Two minutes longer than necessary!” Ross whined. “God, Tenner, you’re killing me!”
To his horror, that stroke on his shaft stopped, and he lowered his gaze to Tenner’s wickedly flashing brown eyes.
“What?” Ross asked while his heart thundered in his ears and time ceased to move.
“Beg me,” Tenner whispered, flicking his tongue out again.
Ross had to stop himself from coming. “Oh, you evil, evil little man.”
The lick across his head was a little longer this time, long enough to make Ross shudder and moan, but short enough to leave him practically in pain.