1 Chapter 1

Step one, make sure Alex is awake. You can stare at him as long as you like. Alex might be a heavy sleeper but soon he will be squirming and waking up without you laying a finger on him. Don’t touch the inside of his arm. If you stroke it, you’ll get the opposite reaction. That’s his favorite part to have caressed and he’ll easily fall asleep if someone does that to him. He will nod off at the placating sensation and snooze before you even get to say good night. You can practically hear his contented purring.

Step two, give him some time to prepare himself. He has to be clean and fresh or he’ll hate you for being ignorant. It’s impossible to change this about him.

Step three, here we go.

Ethan grinned to himself. He leaned back against the head of their king-size bed and simply waited until his lover emerged from the bathroom, returned to bed, and granted him the long-awaited smooches. Ethan didn’t care that his family were waiting downstairs to have Christmas breakfast before they exchanged gifts. His parents and siblings could wait if they wanted to, or simply proceed and let him and Alex have their breakfast much later. As for his Christmas present, Ethan wanted nothing more than what was inside the bathroom right now. Alex was all he desired.

“Hey.” Rosy-cheeked from the cold water, Alex smiled shyly at Ethan, who was sprawled in the bed, the blanket covering only his legs and the lower part of his thighs. He himself was covered only by a towel slung way too low over his crotch.

He didn’t even need to unwrap his gift, Ethan thought. Alex had already taken care of it. Ethan was this close to allowing himself to drool over the tempting sight. He patted a vacant spot beside him, and Alex climbed into the bed.

Ethan reached out and palmed Alex’s face, seeking the man’s lips and capturing them. He licked those lips slowly, savored the petal-smooth sweetness, and engulfed Alex’s mouth with his own until he felt heady with desire. He nibbled at Alex’s lower lip, smiled when Alex let out a soft moan, and went back to reclaiming that intoxicating mouth with fervor. He plunged in with his tongue, darting it in and out, and circled around Alex’s. Ethan literally plundered Alex’s mouth until he had to stop for breath and pulled back. Alex was panting, his lips throbbing and swollen. Ethan looked at him, slightly amused.

“Sorry,” he said.

“Whatever for? Turning my lips into mincemeat?”

Ethan laughed. “Something like that.”

“Then it’s not something to be sorry about.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Alex turned his head around, glancing at the neatly made bed. “Wanna do it again?”

Ethan didn’t wait for another invitation. He grabbed Alex, taking his lips again and this time he didn’t wait until Alex moaned but immediately slid his tongue between Alex’s readily parted lips. He didn’t know which of them moved first, but suddenly he was tearing off the towel Alex had wrapped around his hips and felt Alex’s hands yanking desperately at his pajama pants, until they were both somehow naked and pressed tightly together.

“Oh, Alex. Alex.” Ethan felt delirious, his mouth never more than an inch separated from Alex’s while his hands went questing over Alex’s silky nakedness as if trying to memorize the soft, curving flesh that was as delicious as warmed honey. Ethan laid Alex down gently. The soft gaze Alex gave him made him crazy.

Ethan drank in Alex’s perfect, muscled body, and Alex shivered at the close scrutiny. Ethan’s gaze was enough to make his nipples stiffen to peaks. Alex’s eyes rolled up and a sigh escaped his lips. Ethan couldn’t hold back anymore. He straddled Alex and stooped, capturing first one then the other of those stiff little pebbles between his lips and circling them with his tongue. The sounds that Alex made sent shivers down his spine.

“Ethan, please,” Alex hissed as his sensitive nubs swelled. Ethan let his hands roam all over hard contours of bone and sinew, then straightened up and reached back to palm Alex’s aroused flesh. It felt warm and firm in his hand and Alex yelped when Ethan began to massage it.

Alex threw his head back, groaning. “God, feels so good. Ethan, you…you—”

“Ssh, relax. Let me do this for you, okay?” Ethan stroked more vigorously and all thoughts seemed to fly away from Alex’s mind, sending him drifting off, riding the ecstasy, thrusting frenziedly into Ethan’s fist.

“Open your eyes,” Ethan whispered.

“Huh—what?”

“Let your eyes open. I want you to see me when you come. I want you to remember who can pleasure you so. I want to see the love in your eyes.”

“I—I love you, Ethan,” Alex stuttered.