V: Vic and Matt Series

The V in Valor-9

After work, Matt headed home. Though it was early evening, he wasn’t very hungry and didn’t bother cooking dinner right away. He liked waiting for Vic, when he could, and his lover usually came in between eight-thirty and nine o’clock. So Matt changed out of his swim trunks and gym clothes, took a quick shower, and stretched out on the bed they shared, just to rest his eyes.

Several hours later, he woke with a start.

A glance at the clock on his bedside table showed it was nine fifteen. Settling back against the pillows, he tried to connect with Vic’s mind and couldn’t. ::Vic?::

No response.

With a yawn, Matt rolled onto his side, grasping Vic’s pillow with both hands and hugging it to him. His lover’s scent enveloped him, clean and strong. He shouldn’t have napped, he thought as his eyes slipped shut again. He couldn’t seem to keep them open. Now he’d be up all night, and he didn’t even have dinner ready yet…

He shook his head, trying to stay awake, but it was no use. The pillows around him were too soft, and his eyelids too heavy, his whole body eager to drop back into sleep. Just another few moments, he thought. Just until Vic came home.

Vic. Who should’ve been home already.

Matt opened one eye to glance at the clock again. Nine twenty, damn. He closed his eyes for a second and the minutes just flew past. Where was his man, anyway?

For a long moment, Matt considered retrieving his cell and calling Vic on his. Just to check up on him, see where he was. The thought was so vivid, so real, that Matt dreamed he sat up, reached for his cell phone, and flipped it open. As he was dialing Vic’s number, he heard his lover’s voice loud and clear. ::Hey, Matty.::

In his dream, Matt placed the phone to his ear. ::There you are. I was getting worried. When are you getting here?::

He could feel Vic frown, even if he couldn’t see him. ::I’m just around the corner. I’ll be there in two minutes, tops.::

::Then why’d you answer your phone?:: Matt asked. Why not speak with him telepathically, if he were so close?

The confusion was bright in Vic’s voice. ::What? I’m not on my phone.::

Matt stretched—the bed sheets rustled around him, and the dream of sitting on the edge of the bed with his phone in his hand dissipated. Aloud, he murmured, “I must still be asleep. Vic?”

::Two minutes,:: his lover promised. ::I’ll wake you up when I get in.::

With a sense of relief, Matt snuggled into Vic’s pillow again and drifted off a second time. Another dream played out in his mind—this time he sat on the sofa, waiting for Vic to arrive, his hands behind his back. In each, he held a small velvet box; in each box was one of those triangle diamond rings he’d seen online. One for him, one for Vic. His heart beat rapidly in his chest as he heard his lover approach. First there were heavy footsteps on the stairs, then in the hall. Then a key scraped into the lock, and the front door swung open. In Matt’s dream, Vic looked larger than life, filling the doorway like a god. From his seat on the couch, Matt held out his hands and said, “Pick one.”

Vic dropped to his knee in response. Matt laughed. “No, silly, I’m doing the proposing.”

Without a word, Vic took one of Matt’s feet into his hands and caressed the sole with long strokes. Raising the foot to his face, he rubbed his goatee along the bottoms of Matt’s toes, tickling them. The short bristles of hair felt like fur along his foot. Matt writhed on the couch, snickering. ::Vic! Please…::

Still silent, Vic licked out, his tongue wetting the tips of Matt’s toes. The sensation was maddening as Vic worked between each toe individually, then began to lap the sole of Matt’s foot. The remnants of Matt’s dream fell away as he woke to find himself lying in bed above the sheets, one leg dangling over the edge of the mattress, something cold and damp nosing at his ankle as that hot tongue continued to lick his foot.

From the bathroom, Matt heard the light click off and the toilet flush. In a low voice, Vic admonished, “Stop that.”

All traces of sleepiness disappeared in an instant. Matt sat up quickly, pulling his legs to his chest. If Vic were over there, then who…or what…? Reaching for the lamp on the bedside table, Matt called out, “Vic? Don’t tell me that wasn’t you.”

He turned on the lamp, and its golden glow pushed the shadows back from the bed. Matt saw Vic kneeling on the floor—like in my dream, he thought, shaking his head. There were no rings, though, and between Vic’s legs sat a large, golden dog who watched Matt with dark, shiny eyes. Its broad tongue hung out as it panted happily, and when it met Matt’s gaze, it woofed once, softly. “Hush,” Vic said, struggling to release the clasp that held its leash to its collar.

The dog’s tail beat the floor in a rapid staccato pattern, and every few moments, the dog turned its head to lick out at Vic’s ear. The first time it did that, Vic swatted it away and it chased after his hand, eager to coat that, too, with its spit. From where he sat on the bed, Matt grinned. “What’s this?”

Vic gave him a sardonic look. “A dog. What’s it look like?”

“Is it ours?” Matt wanted to know.

With a final click, Vic got the leash free and the dog leapt from his arms to clamber onto the bed to join Matt. “Hey!” Vic shouted, but the dog ignored him. “Matty, not on the bed…”

Matt ignored him, as well. Catching the dog’s face in both hands, he rubbed behind the dog’s ears as he leaned in close—the dog licked his face, happy to meet him. “Who’s a good boy?” Matt cooed. “Is you mine? Did big ol’ Vic get you for me? Yes, I think so. I really think so.”

“Why do you do that?” Vic wanted to know. “You see an animal and you act like you’re two.”

To the dog, Matt asked, “Is someone jealous?”

Vic stood, arms crossed, the leash wrapped around one fist, and glared at the two of them on the bed. Extracting himself from the dog, Matt wiped the slobber off his cheeks with his T-shirt as he stood. He sidled up to Vic, smoothing his arms around his lover’s waist, and hugged him tight. Behind him, the dog settled into the middle of the bed, watching.

In a low voice, Matt murmured, “You didn’t have to.”

“I couldn’t just leave it,” Vic said.

Gently, Matt eased into Vic’s mind, curious about how he had ended up with the dog. When he found Vic’s memory of what had happened that afternoon at the construction site, he heard Kendra’s words and shuddered. Hugging his lover tight, he whispered, “Thank you.”

Vic sighed, perturbed, but Matt touched his face and his mood softened. The arms clenched so tight across his chest opened, taking Matt into his embrace. “It’s not sleeping in the bed.”

“We’ll buy a pet bed,” Matt agreed. “I’m not sharing you with anything else. You’re all mine.”

THE END