“Harder,” Vic gasped.
“You’re gonna make me come,” Shane protested, the words
whispered into Vic’s ear as his leg was hooked over Shane’s hip
in preparation for the harder thrusts Vic had requested.
Demanded.
“Fuck me, Shane,” he gasped, barely able to repress the
tingling in his own groin that told him he wouldn’t be far
behind Shane when he came.
Shane groaned and gripped Vic’s thigh hard, pressing his
face into his own bicep as he buried his head next to Vic’s on
the mattress and slammed into him. Vic cried out wordlessly,
his nails raking down the hot skin of Shane’s back as thrust
after thrust brought them both closer to the edge.
When Shane finally came deep inside him, he had
whispered Vic’s name so many times that Vic had lost count,
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and when he pulled out quickly to slide down and take Vic’s
cock into his mouth in order to taste him when he came, Vic
couldn’t even remember his own name, much less anything
else. Nothing else, save for Shane’s name as he cried it out in
ecstasy.
They didn’t bother trying to clean themselves. Shane didn’t
even bother trying to get up to discard the condom. He merely
tossed it away as Vic snickered at him, and then climbed up
Vic’s body to look down at him in the moonlight.
“That was fun,” Shane announced breathlessly.
“Yes it was,” Vic responded as he tried to catch his breath.
“Better than climbing sand dunes,” Shane said with a
widening smile.
“I say we do it again,” Vic said, returning the smile with
one of his own. “Soon.”
“Deal,” Shane said softly, and then he kissed Vic one last
time and rolled off his body once more, holding Vic close and
nuzzling into him, allowing Vic to roll and entwine their limbs.
Not one more word was said about their tryst, and they
cuddled together contentedly, comfortable once again in the
silence.
They drifted off to sleep like that, facing each other and
clutching each other possessively.
Hours later when the sun rose slowly and cast its first rays
across their still-enfolded forms, Vic cracked a sleepy eye open
to see that yes, Shane was still there with him. And he was still
holding Vic’s hand tenderly in his own, never once having let
go.
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Vic was once again in the water. It wasn’t as cold today, but it
wasn’t as calm either, and he was having quite a lot of fun
fighting the waves as they tried repeatedly to take him down
and wash him ashore like a beached whale.
He and Shane had continued what they had started the
night before as soon as they had both awoken, but after several
slow kisses they had both agreed that toothbrushes were in
order, and perhaps showers as well.
After that unromantic break in the mood, they had never
really started back up again, and when Shane had stated that
he was going for more beer before the noonday hour rolled
around, Vic had agreed readily and then immediately headed
for the water as soon as Shane had left.
Vic loved the water. It allowed his brain to go into suspend
mode for a little while as he enjoyed the assault on his senses,
and the added pleasure of fighting the water was quite
enjoyable today. He smiled as he thought about Shane and
how easy the morning had felt. There was no awkward
fumbling over what had happened, or even over what they both
wanted to continue happening. It just felt normal and right,
and Vic knew it would be okay. He didn’t know how he knew,
but he just did.
“Hey!” Shane called from the beach, and Vic turned
around to see his friend waving at him from much farther away
than he had expected.
“Shit,” Vic murmured. He had been floating, literally and
figuratively, and he had been pulled by the tide quite a bit. He
began to swim toward Shane even as Shane set their little
cooler down by their chairs and started into the water
haltingly, gasping at the temperature. When they met several
minutes of struggling later in chest-high water, Shane reached
out and pulled Vic to him through the water by his
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outstretched hand, taking advantage of the fact that Vic’s feet
were nowhere near the ocean’s floor.
“Trying to escape?” Shane asked him with a grin as he
encircled Vic’s body within strong arms.
“And if I was?” Vic asked with a barely repressed smirk as
he automatically wrapped his floating legs around Shane’s
body and attached himself to the other man quite handily.
“Mmm,” was all Shane managed to respond with as his
eyes drifted shut and he hugged Vic closer. “I’d have to chase
you down, now,” he said hoarsely, and his hands traveled down
Vic’s back to cup his ass and press their groins together. “You
know this is probably the only time you’ll ever actually be able
to hang onto me like this,” he said thoughtfully as Vic hugged
his neck and nibbled on his ear.
“You’re a big manly man,” Vic said teasingly before licking
Shane’s earlobe and biting down again. “You saying you
couldn’t hold me like this if we weren’t in the water?”
“Yes,” Shane answered simply, his voice amused and
slightly distracted.
“Even if you had me against a wall?” Vic asked softly, his
own cock trying to stand at attention with the thought. Shane
groaned a little. It amazed Vic how natural it felt, after all these
years of friendship, to have his legs wrapped around Shane’s
body while whispering seductive words into his ear.
Shane pressed his face into Vic’s damp neck and groaned
again. “I believe if I were inside you, I could do anything you
wanted me to,” he said, his voice muffled by Vic’s skin.
“You’ve thought about it?” Vic asked in a strained voice,
the pleasure of their close contact almost overriding the
curiosity. But not quite.
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“More than I should have,” Shane admitted, his face
turning until he was able to kiss Vic’s neck and jaw and nip at
the wet skin.
“Then we’ll just have to do this more often, ’til we get it
just like you imagine it,” Vic told him with a smile as he
pressed their mouths together and held on tightly.
Shane murmured something unintelligible in response,
but it sounded like an agreement.
“Shane,” Vic gasped. Shane replied with a questioning
hum, and Vic grinned against the other man’s lips. “Shut up,”
he ordered.
Vic’s phone was ringing when he and Shane finally made it
back inside that evening. They had stayed outside almost the
entire day, foregoing food at lunchtime in favor of beer, and
foregoing going back inside when the beer ran out in favor of
going back into the water and
groping each other behind the
screen of the breakers once more.
It had been a perfect day as far as Vic was concerned, and
tonight promised to be very interesting. Now, though, they both
needed showers, copious amounts of aloe, and dinner. Lots of
dinner. And Vic needed to answer that call.
He dashed into the other room to answer the ringing
phone, but just as he reached it the display told him that he
had missed the call.
“Missed it,” he called out to Shane, not sure why the other
man might need to know.
Shane yelled something in return, and Vic frowned when
he couldn’t understand it.
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“Are you eating without me?” he called incredulously,
stomping into the other room to find Shane standing at the
kitchen counter with wide, innocent green eyes and trying to
hide the fact that he was chewing.
“No,” he said around a mouthful of bread.
“Fucker,” Vic growled affectionately.
Shane gave that an outraged little mumble just before his
own cell phone began to ring. He chewed quickly and wiped the
crumbs from his hands as he walked over to where it sat
charging and answered it.
“Hello?” he said, swallowing the remainder of the bread
and grinning over at Vic. The grin slid slowly away as the
person on the other end spoke, and though Vic could hear
some of the words, he couldn’t make out what the person was
saying. “Are you okay?” Shane asked in concern as his eyes
met Vic’s, and Vic frowned in concern. “I see…. Yeah… no,
y’know… no, I’m sure it’d be… uh-huh,” Shane said into the
phone, his worried eyes never leaving Vic’s. “He’s right here,”
he said after a moment. He then took the phone from his ear
and handed it to Vic. “It’s Owen,” he said softly.
Vic took the phone and looked down at it as if it might bite
him. He didn’t want to talk to Owen, he realized suddenly. For
the first time in five years, he wasn’t happy to have the man on
the phone, calling him.
He looked up at Shane with a scowl but put the phone to
his ear.
“Hello?” he greeted with a hint of concern in his voice. Why
would Owen be calling Shane?
“Hey, Vic,” Owen murmured. He sounded upset. Vic had
never heard him quite so downtrodden.
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Vic’s stomach tumbled end over end with a sudden blast of
worry, not only for whatever might be wrong with Owen, but
worry over what Shane would think of this phone call. He
didn’t want anything to ruin what they had started. He
watched apprehensively as Shane looked away and then turned
to walk into the bedroom.
“Uhh,” he managed to say distractedly. “Hey,” he returned
as he turned away from the bedroom door. “What’s wrong?” he
answered distractedly as he heard the shower turn on. “What’s
going on? Are you okay?”
“I’ve been trying to call you,” Owen answered almost
accusingly. “You just disappeared. I was worried.”
Vic’s scowl returned suddenly as he walked closer to the
French doors that led to the back deck. He stared out at the
ocean without responding. His first impulse, of course, was to
tell Owen that now he knew how it felt to be forgotten and cast
aside. But he didn’t want to. He was still angry and hurt, and
while he wanted to hold on to those feelings long enough to
purge his system, he didn’t want to ruin the friendship by
being nasty to the man.
“Vic?” Owen tried. “Are you okay?” he asked with sincere
worry.
Vic looked down and closed his eyes. He told himself that
even if he wasn’t planning on fucking Owen anymore, the man
was still a friend. He hadn’t intentionally hurt Vic, and Vic
didn’t think he ever would have.
“I’m fine,” he assured him in an even voice. “I’m sorry,” he
added with a little more effort. “I just needed to get away after
that conference. Shane offered to let me come with him and it
seemed like a good idea. Is that why you called?” he asked
tiredly as he turned and headed for the bedroom to find Shane.
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“Well,” Owen said hesitantly. “Yeah. This damn expo thing
I was working wrapped up early so… when Shane was here he
told me to call him if I needed a vacation. I was wondering if I
could meet you guys down there. And I want to talk to you
about some things,” Owen said hopefully.
Vic licked his lips and frowned harder as he stepped
through the door and found Shane standing at the dresser,
getting out dry clothes and a towel.
“Can’t it wait until I get home?” Vic asked as he leaned
against the doorframe.
“I don’t think so, Vic. Please,” Owen murmured seriously.
When Shane turned to look at him, Vic met his eyes and
sighed heavily. He put the phone to his hand and lowered it.
“He wants to come here,” he told Shane.
Shane watched him blankly for several moments, and then
he nodded curtly and slung a towel over his shoulder.
Vic shook his head. He didn’t want Owen to come here and
pop the perfect little bubble they’d created. He didn’t want to
face that obstacle yet. Right now, looking at Shane, he was
sure he could tell Owen to take the proverbial hike. But he
knew himself better than that. Faced with Owen again, he
didn’t know if he’d have the backbone.
“You’re gonna have to see him sooner or later,” Shane told
him softly.
Vic sighed heavily again. Shane was right, of course. And
maybe, Vic told himself, it would be easier here than it would
be at home. Here, with Shane.
He put the phone back to his ear. “Yeah, okay,” Vic said
into the phone.
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“Good,” Owen said happily. “I’ll be there as soon as I can
get my shit together.”
Vic nodded distractedly, as if Owen could actually see him,
and he ended the call without so much as a farewell as Shane
walked into the bathroom and pulled the door closed.
Vic stood in the middle of the room alone, the phone
hanging from his limp hand and his eyes glued to the door
behind which Shane had disappeared. This was going to
complicate things.
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VI
Vic sat on the bed, waiting for Shane to reemerge. To say that
he was a little confused was a bit of an understatement, but he
was slowly but surely working things out in his head. It was
hard to shake the five years of feelings he had harbored for
Owen, and he knew it was going to be difficult to do, but he
recognized that Shane was offering him something here,
something that Vic would have to be a fool to turn down.
For the first time since he had met Owen, Vic wasn’t
excited about seeing him. He wanted Shane all to himself here,
just l
ike it had been all week. He didn’t want Owen to come in
now and possibly ruin what had been a very good thing
starting, to bounce in and nip it in the bud without even
realizing it. Unfortunately, that couldn’t be helped now; Owen
was on his way with an urgent need to talk to Vic about
something. It had to be important for Owen to travel almost
eight hours to get to him. That worried Vic more than anything.
But he was determined.
He was also smart enough to know that Shane wasn’t
happy about Owen joining them. He was a little ashamed to
admit that the knowledge thrilled him. That thought, the
thought that Shane was upset about Owen coming here and
possibly taking Vic away, made Vic happier than it probably
should have. He would just have to make certain that Shane
knew exactly how he felt about this, and leave no room for
misunderstandings.
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There was something seriously wrong with the fact that he
was sitting there grinning like an idiot as he thought about this
potentially disastrous little triangle, but he was entitled to his
moments of insanity just like everyone else.
The water stopped running and he wiped the grin from his
face. He sat there waiting for several moments, and when the
door opened the steam puffed out and Shane stepped into the
room with a towel slung low around his hips and steam rising
from his skin as the cool air hit him. His shoulders and chest
were red from the sun and his blond hair was dark with
dripping water.
He looked up and his eyes widened when he found Vic
sitting there in front of him, but then he schooled his features
into impassivity and said, “He’s coming down?”
“Yeah,” Vic answered as he stood up. “Are you okay?” he
asked carefully.
Shane nodded curtly and took a step as if to walk away,
but Vic stepped in front of him, putting his hand on Shane’s
still slightly steaming chest and invading the other man’s
personal space. Shane reared his head back slowly and looked
at Vic with an unreadable expression.