The Positions of Love Box Set

Book 1: The Positions of Love-11

Christmas Eve dawned bright and cold. Though he had the day off from work and had nowhere he planned to go, Vic was up at six that morning, easing from between the covers with the hope that Matt wouldn’t wake before he returned. Tugging on his flannel robe, he moved through their apartment on silent feet and unlocked the apartment door. He paused to scoop up his keys from the nearby phone table, then stepped out into the drafty hall. Closing the door quietly behind him, he cinched the robe tight. Then he hurried down the stairs and out the front door.

The air was brittle and sharp when Vic breathed it in. The concrete stoop was so damn cold, it numbed his bare feet the moment he stepped outside; by the time he reached the sidewalk, he could feel nothing from his ankles down. A cutting wind pulled at his robe like a hungry lover, and as Vic huddled down against it, his mind returned to his bed, with the warm covers draped over Matt’s still sleeping form. Be back there soon enough.

At the curb, his car glistened with a thin coat of ice that winked like crystals in the rising sun. Stepping out into the street, Vic unlocked the trunk of his car. Why he hadn’t thought to bring Matt’s presents in earlier was beyond him—since he’d bought them, they had stayed out in his car. Part of him wanted it to be a surprise, though Matt would know the moment he saw them that they were from Vic. But he hadn’t seen Matt place his gifts beneath the tree; one morning he woke up and suddenly there they were, a nice little pile wrapped in bright red paper. The stocking with Vic’s name on it above the TV had also filled out. As Christmas neared, Vic caught Matt glancing under the tree when he thought Vic wasn’t looking, as if he wondered why no other gifts had joined his. Because this is my first real Christmas, Vic thought. I’m trying the best I can.

Inside the trunk were two large shopping bags. The first and biggest bag was from Le Bain de Bulle. In it were the gifts Shawna had helped him pick out—creamy lotions, foot scrubs, a home pedicure kit, scented oils, a pair of massage gloves covered in hard rubber nubs, a picture book on foot reflexology, a “how to” book on sensual massage, a loofah for the bath…each item individually wrapped in festive gold paper. The store had also had a small s****l section, where Vic picked up more oils—one that warmed on the skin, another that turned cold, a third that felt like liquid satin. He bought blowjob mints, which would chill his tongue and mouth before he went down on Matt, and a candy c**k ring he couldn’t wait to nibble off his lover. He’d spent well over fifty dollars at that one store alone, easily, but Matt was worth it.

The second bag was marked Medallion Pools. Vic had noticed the store after he left the other. Surprised to find a pool store open in December, and knowing his lover’s love of swimming, Vic had ducked inside. The shelves were mostly empty, but there were a few items he thought Matt might like—new swim goggles, nose clips, a swim cap, some sort of lotion that was supposed to keep chlorine from damaging the skin, and a couple practical items for his office designed with a water aficionado in mind. Vic’s favorite item was also in the second bag: a pair of skin-tight Speedos made of black mesh. Mesh. The thought of his lover in them just about short-circuited his mind. Of course, Matt would never wear them in public, but at home, for Vic…

A shiver of delight ran down Vic’s spine. It set off another tremor, this one deep in his chest, and he remembered he stood barefoot in freezing weather. Gathering his gifts together, he closed the trunk and hurried back inside. By the time he’d climbed the stairs to his apartment, the feeling in his feet was back, and his toes throbbed from the cold. At the door to his apartment, he stopped and stretched out his mind, brushing over Matt’s consciousness.

He was still asleep. Good.

Inside, Vic emptied the two shopping bags out onto the couch, then began arranging the items under the tree. Soon a golden stack of presents nestled beside Matt’s red-wrapped gifts under the branches. The smaller things were dropped into Matt’s stocking, until it bulged to match Vic’s. Then he balled up the shopping bags, shoved them into the trash can in the kitchen, and hurried back to bed, stopping only in the bathroom to slip off his robe.

Sliding between the sheets again, Vic cuddled up to Matt’s warmth. As his cold, bare feet touched Matt’s leg, his lover woke and gasped. “Vic?” he murmured, turning toward him. “Damn, you’re freezing.”

“Then warm me up,” Vic breathed.

Matt’s legs parted, then clamped over Vic’s toes. His hands were thrust into Matt’s crotch, and loving arms rubbed over his shivering shoulders, holding him close. “Why’d you go outside?” Matt wanted to know.

Vic silenced him with a kiss.