Chapter 1

Vic Braunson opened one eye, his mind still muddled with sleep. The clock on his bedside table read a little after ten, and it took him a minute to figure out why the alarm hadn’t gone off. It was Saturday—no need to get up early because he didn’t have to go to work.

Then why bother to wake up at all?

Gripping his pillow in a bear hug, he burrowed down into it and sighed as he shut his eyes again. More sleep sounded heavenly. As his whole body relaxed, his mind stretched out beyond the confines of the bedroom to fill the rest of his apartment, searching to connect with his lover, Matt diLorenzo.

But the apartment was empty.

Vic drifted farther, his mind reaching past the solid confines of the home. Into the hallway, down the stairs, outside where Matt stood on the front stoop, morning newspaper in hand, chatting with a little girl whose overly eager Siberian husky craned its neck up toward Matt to be petted. When Vic’s consciousness brushed over his, Matt sent a loving thought Vic’s way. ::Morning, sexy.::

With a slight groan, Vic answered, ::I ain’t up yet.::

Though the smile on Matt’s face never changed, Vic sensed his lover leer at him suggestively::I can fix that. Give me five more minutes here and I’ll come get you up.::

With a contented sigh, Vic reeled in his thoughts and sank deeper into his pillow. The telepathy he shared with his lover stemmed from their lovemaking—something in Matt’s semen gave Vic a plethora of superpowers, including superhuman strength and the ability to read minds. Different powers came and went, depending upon a variety of factors when they made love, but the telepathy was a constant. One Vic wouldn’t give up for the world, if he were honest. It deepened the relationship with his lover, and he never wanted to lose that intimacy.

In his opinion, Saturdays were for sleeping in, but if Matt had other plans, then Vic wasn’t about to change them. He could think of no other way to be pleasantly awoken than by his lover’s soft kisses and gentle touch. The anticipation alone stirred his groin, and he had to shift into a more comfortable position on the bed, raising one leg to alleviate the throb at his crotch.

A minute passed, two, and the ache drifted higher. It grew more insistent, no matter how Vic turned in the sheets. Then he realized it wasn’t his libido at all but the urge to urinate that had him restless in the bed. Throwing off all pretense of sleep, he stretched as he stood, nude, and left the sheets behind him to head for the bathroom.

The cool morning air prickled his skin into goose bumps. For a long moment after the flush of the toilet had faded away, Vic stood at the bathroom sink, studying himself in the mirror. He was one ugly motherfucker, what with the facial tattoo that curved around his temple and the piercings in his eyebrows. Scrunching up his nose, he growled at himself and, not for the first time, wondered what Matt saw when he looked at him. The bared teeth, the devilish goatee, the mean eyes? Why his man had ever spared a glance Vic’s way, he’d never know. But God, not a day went by when Vic didn’t thank heaven Matt hadlooked at him, not once but twice, and that double take had snagged Vic’s notice, as well.

Running water into the sink, Vic splashed the cool liquid on his face and neck. Then he stretched out for a towel on the rack behind him. He couldn’t quite reach, but before he could take a step back, he felt a surge of energy spiral down his arm and into his hand, then the soft terry cloth brushed his fingertips.

In the mirror, Vic watched as the towel flew into his hand on its own accord. Another day, another odd superpower to deal with.What was this one? Telekinesis, maybe? Moving things with thought alone…

As he toweled off, he tried again, staring at his razor on the edge of the sink. It didn’t move an inch, but the moment he opened his hand above it, he was able to make it dance. So the power was somehow channeled through him, he suspected. Good thing it was Saturday. Vic could sit around the apartment with his hands balled into fists until the power passed.

Down the hall, Vic heard the front door open and knew Matt had returned. ::I said I’d get you up,::he teased when he sensed Vic no longer waited for him in bed.

::I plan to hold you to that,::Vic replied. ::I may be out of bed but that doesn’t mean I’m anywhere near awake.::

Through the bathroom door, he heard his lover’s surprised laugh and he grinned into the towel. He was a bear in the mornings, he knew, and damn it, but Matt loved to mess with him when he wasn’t quite coherent. He should go into the kitchen and show off his new power in a dramatic way, just to get Matt worked up. Pour his coffee without touching the mug, perhaps, or mentally turn the pages of the newspaper as Matt tried to read it. If he closed off his thoughts and snuck up on his lover, he might get a good laugh or two before Matt figured out what was happening.