Long_Way_Home

he and I had always circled their tree, hunting down every last one to make sure they were all bubbling properly.
    I smiled at him as I joined him and we went through the familiar ritual together, as if this was our home and our tree. It gave me a thrill just to think about it.
    “Did you eat yet?” he asked, when all the lights were frothing like champagne.
    I looked at my hands. I hadn’t realized how dirty they’d gotten while I was fiddling with the furnace. “No, I didn’t have time.”
    “Hungry?”
    “Yeah.” I followed him to the kitchen and washed my hands at the sink, while he got out a familiar blue box. I hadn’t realized how hollow I felt inside. “Mac and cheese?”
    “Comfort food.” He grinned and started making it.
    “So can you cook?”
    “Worried that you’ll starve?” he chuckled. “I have everything ready for a big Christmas dinner, so I was planning on something easy for tonight.” I wanted to go and wrap my arms around his waist and look over his shoulder while he cooked but I just wasn’t 20

    The Long Way Home / Catt Ford

    comfortable enough yet. Everything seemed like it was happening too fast.
    He must have seen my face, because he asked, “A little weirded out?”
    I smiled at him. “A little. I wasn’t expecting to see you at all and it’s just….”
    “Something you’ve been wanting all your life and thought you couldn’t have, and then suddenly in half an hour, it becomes a reality?”
    “Like my fairy godmother swooped in and granted me a wish.”
    Jake snickered at my choice of guardian. “Same here.” We ate in front of the fire. It felt good to eat, good to be warm, good to be here with him. From the cold grey landscape of my life, suddenly everything was warm and golden and comfortable.
    And yet, it was all I could do to sit there quietly next to him and keep my hands off him. A little thrill kept bubbling up inside me whenever I looked over at him. My best friend and only love was about to become my lover.
    Back when we were kids, I had been glad to let him take the lead, but now it was my turn. During our years apart, I had learned just about everything two men could do together sexually and it gave me a thrill to think of showing 21

    The Long Way Home / Catt Ford

    it all to him, to take his hand and lead him through the physical act that was new to him.
    And it was all new to me as well, because for the first time I loved the man that I was going to make love to. Even though I knew how to go through the motions, everything I’d done had just been fucking before this.
    I reached over and took the dish from his hand, putting it on the coffee table with mine. “Want to make out?”
    “Want to give me a hand first?” I had no idea what he had in mind but I followed him into the spare room and helped him pick up the mattress, leaving the bedspread and sheets in place. He walked backwards into the living room and we set it down by the fireplace.
    I was laughing a little as I asked, “What the fuck?” Again that burning look full of desire. “I like to unwrap my presents under the tree.”
    I caught my breath. “Me too.”
    He got down on the mattress and opened his arms. I couldn’t get into his embrace fast enough. His kisses tasted of macaroni and cheese, his tongue slick as it slipped over mine.
    I pressed myself against him, unable to wait any longer. The prize that had always hovered out of reach had 22

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    fallen into my grasp and I wanted more. Even if this was some sort of twisted dream, I had to go for it while I could.
    Jake was still the flint that struck sparks deep within me and in an instant I was on fire for him, a raging conflagration that nothing could put out. All finesse, all that I wanted to show him flew out the window when I felt the wonderful hardness of him pressing against my stomach. To know that I’d made him hard, that he wanted me as badly as I wanted him, there was no finer aphrodisiac.
    I slid my hand inside his shirt, wanting to run my fingers through the light covering of hair on his chest. He moaned and thrust up against me, urgently yanking my shirt out of my pants, his hands pressed against the small of my back, as if he couldn’t explore any lower without permission.
    Our kisses became more heated and my hands started to roam. I was grinding myself against Jake’s thigh, moaning into the kiss when I felt his hands slide down cup my buttocks, holding me closer.
    Jake arched