V Box Set

The V in Valor-3

In his mind, his lover’s gruff voice spoke up through the telepathic bond they shared. ::If this is the way you talk to all animals,:: Vic threatened, ::we’re never getting a pet.::

Ignoring him, Matt made kissy noises as he cuddled the cat. “Don’t listen to him, Tibbles. He’s just jealous I’m loving on you right now and not on him.”

Matt laughed at the groan his lover directed his way. ::You’ll be petted and cuddled soon enough,:: he promised. ::You’re not the only one with a spoiled pet.::

::I didn’t mean it like that,:: Vic answered. He stood outside on the curb; leaving the door to their apartment open, Matt wandered out to the landing and could just see the gleam of sunlight off the top of Vic’s bald head through the window above the outside door. ::I meant—::

But whatever he planned to say disappeared as a late model white Cadillac slid to a stop in front of their building. With the cat in his arms, Matt waited at the top of the stairs as Vic helped Mrs. K with her groceries. Well, “help” was exactly the word for it—the landlady was in her seventies, and probably couldn’t lift the first bag. So all she did was open the trunk; Vic carried everything himself. She stood on the stoop and waited for him, then held the door open as he stepped inside their building.

Before Vic could start up the stairs, however, Mrs. K slipped in front of him to lead the way. She took the steps one at a time, leaning heavily on the railing as she hoisted herself up. Only once both feet were on the step would she advance to the next. And the next. And the next. Vic glowered up at Matt as he trailed slowly behind her, frustration darkening his eyes. Matt buried his face against the cat’s neck so their landlady wouldn’t see his smirk.

Step by shuffling step, Mrs. K neared the landing where Matt stood, but she didn’t look up to see him until she reached the top step. “Marvin!” she said, smiling not at him but at the cat he held. “I see you found Tibbles.”

“It’s Matt,” he answered gently. She always got his name wrong. Did he look like a Marvin to her?

With a frown, Mrs. K pushed her thick glasses up on her thin nose and peered at the cat. “No, that’s Tibbles,” she announced. “I’m sure of it.”

Behind her, Vic coughed to cover his laugh.

Narrowing his eyes at his lover, Matt threatened, “Do you want to carry the cat?”

Vic shrugged, rustling the paper grocery bags he held in both hands. “My hands are full.”

Nodding at the cat, Mrs. K asked, “Be a dear and bring him up for me, will you?”

Without waiting for an answer, she started for the next flight of stairs. This time Vic managed to get in front of her and, with his long strides, reached the door to her apartment well before she even started up the steps. But Matt wasn’t so lucky—he had to trail behind, the cat growing restless in his arms, as she slowly ascended. More than once he let out an annoyed sigh, but it didn’t seem to make Mrs. K move any faster. At the top of the stairs, Vic had deposited the groceries in front of the door and now leaned over the railing, smirking, as Matt glared at him. ::Hurry up, slowpoke,:: Vic teased.

There was no way to edge around the landlady without knocking her down. ::Next time carry her up with the groceries,:: Matt told his lover. ::This can take all day.::

Vic’s eyes twinkled with suppressed laughter. ::You can’t rush an old lady.::

Finally Matt reached the landing. As Mrs. K shuffled to her door, jingling her keys to find the right one, Matt stepped up to Vic and foisted the cat off onto his lover. Vic tried to back away and couldn’t—the railing creaked beneath his weight. The cat clawed at the front of his shirt as he grappled with it. “Matty, what…”

“Your turn.” Matt waited until Mrs. K ducked into her apartment before he planted a quick kiss on Vic’s cheek. “Ask her if we can have pets.”

“What?” Vic juggled the cat in his arms, trying unsuccessfully to hold onto it. After a few wiggly moments, it leapt out of Vic’s embrace and bolted for the open door. Brushing off the cat hair left behind, Vic said, “I’m not asking her that. We don’t need a pet.”

For a long moment, Matt just stared at Vic, the look on his face neutral. He didn’t have to pout or beg to get his way—after a minute or two, Vic sighed and ran a hand over his scalp, as if smoothing back hair he no longer had. “No.”

Matt didn’t answer.

Turning his attention to the groceries, Vic gathered the bags in his arms and followed Mrs. K into her apartment. As he passed through the doorway, he stuck out one foot to keep another adventurous feline from slipping out into the hall. Inside, he set the bags down and reached behind him to close the door, and his gaze found Matt’s once again.

A low growl tickled the back of Vic’s throat. “Spoiled,” he said, his voice gruff. He closed the door, shutting Matt out in the hall, but through the thin wood, Matt heard his lover call out, “Mrs. K? We had a question about our lease.”

Slowly, Matt grinned.

* * * *

Matt didn’t bring up the question of a pet again. He didn’t have to—he had Vic thinking about it, and he knew Vic would give him what he wanted in the end. And to be honest, Matt wasn’t exactly sure what he wanted was a pet. His lover’s immediate refusal upon seeing Mrs. K’s cat sprawled out on their kitchen table had been the only reason Matt pressed his point in the first place. If they got a pet, he wanted it to be a mutual decision, not a knee-jerk reaction. So Vic didn’t like cats; so what? There were other animals they could keep if they chose.

By Monday morning, getting a pet was the last thing on Matt’s mind when he woke. His arms were still tight around Vic’s waist, his nude body pressed against his lover’s, in a pale imitation of the way they had held onto each other while making love the night before. Then Vic had been on his stomach, his thick c**k throbbing between himself and the mattress, his pillow tucked under his head and gripped in both arms. Matt had straddled him from behind, and each hard thrust that drove his d**k into Vic’s ass was matched with a lusty moan deep in the back of Vic’s throat. His lover bit at the pillow in his arms and raised his hips off the bed to meet Matt as they f****d. Just before Matt had come, he’d lain down above Vic, covering his lover’s body with his own, and shoved in as far as he could go. His arms had eased beneath Vic’s shoulders and their fingers laced together. At the last possible moment, Vic had turned to kiss Matt, and Matt’s orgasm tore through them both, triggering Vic’s own.

In the early morning stillness, it took Matt a moment to extract himself from Vic, both physically and mentally. As quietly as he could, he showered and dressed, then ate a quick breakfast of frozen waffles that he washed down with a cup of strong coffee. Leaving the coffeemaker on to keep the rest of the java warm, Matt ducked back into the bedroom for his gym bag. In the darkness, Vic was nothing but an indistinct shape on the bed, his nakedness buried under the blankets.

Matt stopped by his lover’s side and pulled the top cover back just enough to expose Vic’s tattooed and pierced brow. Kissing his forehead, Matt murmured, “Love you, big guy. Have a good day, you hear?”

Vic groaned and rolled toward the sound of Matt’s voice. Through the blanket, Matt felt hidden hands rub over his lower back. Before they could catch hold of him, though, he stood and laughed. ::Much as I’d love to,:: he told Vic silently, ::I’ll never hear the end of it from Roxie if I’m late again. She says I’m lying when I tell her it’s your fault. Says no one can have s*x as much as I claim we do.::

Despite all appearances, Vic’s mind was more alert than his body at this hour. ::No wonder she’s always thinking of d**k when she sees me,:: he groused. ::Is that all you two talk about?::

::Your d**k,:: Matt admitted. He reached out and tickled Vic through the blanket, hoping his hand was in close proximity to his lover’s genitalia. By the way Vic shifted and the sudden surge of desire that colored his thoughts, Matt suspected his aim was true. ::It’s one of my favorite topics of conversation.::

::At work?:: Vic shifted again, trying to catch Matt’s hand between his legs.

Matt pulled it back in time. ::Anywhere. Love you.::

Another kiss, this one on the bridge of Vic’s nose, and a third when his lover pulled the blanket down and puckered up. “Tastes like syrup,” he muttered. “Now I want pancakes.”

“There are waffles in the fridge.” Matt smoothed a hand over Vic’s brow, reluctant to leave. The rumpled sheets made the bed look so inviting, and he knew just how warm and cozy it’d be to strip down and tuck himself in next to his lover…

But he was running late for work. “See you tonight,” he called out, pulling the bedroom door shut behind him to keep out the light from the hall.

::Love you,:: came Vic’s mental reply. His thoughts were tinged with exhaustion, and by the time Matt locked the front door to their apartment behind him and headed down the stairs, Vic had fallen back to sleep.

At the gym, Roxie was already behind the reception counter when Matt entered. “What did you do, spend the night?” he joked as he swiped his key card to enter the employee’s area.

The button that buzzed the door open was under Roxie’s desk; she hit it as he swiped his card, effectively canceling his request for entry. The door stayed shut when Matt hit it with his elbow. “Roxie, come on. I’m just kidding.”

“You walked me to my car yesterday,” she muttered. “You know I went home.”

Matt shrugged. “You could’ve snuck back in after I drove off, I don’t know. Let me in.”

“Stop picking on me then.”

He waited until her attention was diverted to her computer and tried his card a second time. No dice. She probably had a knee pressed up against the button, keeping him out. “Roxie,” he whined.

She shook her head, her dyed red hair flipping from one shoulder to the other. “That might work for your man of steel,” she joked, “but your superhuman powers of persuasion are lost on me. How is Vic doing, anyway?”

“I left him asleep in the bed,” Matt admitted. He jiggled the door handle, as if that would help. “And if you don’t open up, I’ll head back home and join him.”

Roxie laughed. “You guys rut like rabbits. How he manages to sit in the driver’s seat all day after that, I can’t imagine.”

Before Matt could think of something pithy to say in response, the door opened behind him and he stumbled back into the hallway that led to the employee locker room and the pool where he worked. As the door eased closed, he started down the hall, eager to hide in the pool’s admin office and, with any luck, avoid Roxie the rest of the day. But before the door shut completely, she called out, “What, no thank you? See if you get a donut now.”