With This Ring

Chapter 2

The line shuffled forward again, bringing Vic closer to the register. Now he stood just outside the gauntlet of trashy magazines and candy bars that grocery stores stocked at the front to entice customers. Turning his back on the little girl, who still laughed at him for whatever reason, Vic frowned at the magazines and sent out another mental probe to find his lover. Matt was in the frozen section, debating over microwavable potato skins or a spinach-artichoke dip. His arms overflowed with things he’d picked up as he ran around the store. When he felt Vic’s presence in his mind, Matt asked, ::What do you think? The dip would be good on those chips we have.::

::We don’t really need it,:: Vic told him. ::We picked up some salsa already. I thought we were done shopping.::

Matt laughed. An image filled Vic’s head—the bright yellow price tag hanging below a box of the potato skins. ::They’re on sale.::

That phrase was Matt’s catch-all answer whenever they went shopping. Which is why I usually stay home, Vic thought as he glanced over the tabloids. Celebrities he didn’t know paraded across the covers, and headlines splashed like shocked exclamations cried out for Vic’s attention. Every magazine seemed to have the same people on it, each story conflicting with the others. So-and-so’s pregnant; no, she’s not. This one does drugs; no, wait, he’s in rehab. One moment she’s overweight, the next she’s anorexic. Who read this s**t? Who really cared?

He felt a nudge in his thoughts, and then Matt prompted, ::Vic? Which should I buy?::

Vic shrugged, then realized his lover wasn’t around to see the gesture. ::Get them both,:: he told Matt, ::if they’re on sale. It’s not like they’ll go to waste.::

Down near the bottom of the magazine rack, the word GAY caught his eye. Vic squatted to peer at Weird World News, a tabloid that tried to give itself an air of legitimacy with its black and white newsprint format. Or maybe the magazine was too broke to afford color ink—instead of the usual celebrity gossip that graced the covers of the other magazines, this one seemed to thrive on Bigfoot sightings and alien abductions. The headline that had snagged Vic’s attention started, Inmate says ex-GAY lover… The rest was hidden behind the plastic guard that held the magazine in place.

Because he was bored, and because the words were written in such cheesy, lurid letters, Vic tugged a copy of the tabloid free from the rack. He smoothed down the cover, read the full headline, and felt a rush of adrenaline flood his system and cloud his mind. Elsewhere in the store, Matt felt the change and misinterpreted it. ::I’m almost there,:: he assured his lover. ::I see the cart. Where are you?::

Vic stood, tabloid fisted in his hands. Paper tore around his fingers as his thoughts whirled out in every direction. He didn’t. Oh, God, he didn’t.

The headline twisted beneath Vic’s angry grip.

Inmate says ex-GAY lover gave him SUPER POWERS during s*x.

Only a handful of people knew of Matt’s ability. Matt himself, of course. Vic. A police officer Vic had confided in a year and a half earlier when Matt had been kidnapped.

And the former friend who had stolen Matt from Vic because he wanted Matt’s powers for himself. Jordan Dubrowski. Currently serving back-to-back sentences in a maximum-security prison for multiple offenses, among them abduction, attempted rape, intent to sodomize, and s****l assault.

With hands that trembled from barely suppressed rage, Vic tore through the tabloid. He found the story near the end—one page of cramped typeset and a grainy photo of a shadowy man behind bars was all the publication allowed in the article. Jordan’s name wasn’t mentioned, but Vic knew it was him, it had to be him. The story opened, In the heart of Virginia…

Three paragraphs in, Vic saw his lover’s name in stark letters.

Shit.

Items clattered into the shopping cart behind Vic. He glanced over his shoulder to find Matt grinning at him, black curls disheveled as he ran a hand through them to push them out of his face. His dark green eyes shone bright with happiness, as if this were the only place he wanted to be. Leaning across the basket, he smoothed a hand up under the hem of Vic’s jacket and scratched his nails over the small of Vic’s back. “Hey, sexy. Miss me?”

Vic didn’t trust himself to speak. Instead he turned, and Matt’s hand eased around his waist to rub through Vic’s T-shirt over his taut stomach. The ticklish touch barely registered in Vic’s swirling mind. Thrusting the tabloid toward his lover, Vic demanded, “Look at this.”

For a moment, Matt studied the cover of the tabloid. His gaze roamed over the newsprint, obviously trying to find whatever it was Vic wanted him to see. Finally, he said, “I know Mrs. K has a lot of cats, and I’ll admit I don’t understand half of what she says when she goes off in Polish, but do you really think that makes her a witch? With a lust to take over the world, even? I mean, she’s pretty old.”

Vic released the cover, exposing the headline about the super-powered lover. Matt’s eyes widened, and his mouth opened into a perfect O of surprise. All silliness dropped away when he asked in a low voice, “You don’t think—”

“How many other guys out there do you know with superhuman sperm?” Vic held onto the tabloid when Matt tried to take it. He didn’t know if he wanted to rip it up into a million unreadable shreds, or call the number on the masthead and cuss out the reporter who wrote the story. Both actions had their merits.

“Maybe it’s a joke,” Matt offered. “I mean, look at this rag. No one reads it. None of these other stories are true. Maybe it’s not even about me.”

Vic opened the tabloid to the article and pointed to Matt’s name halfway down the page. Just in case Matt didn’t see it, Vic read aloud, “‘We met in high school. His name was M. diLorenzo, and his parents were friends with mine.’“ If it were possible, Matt’s mouth gaped wider in disbelief. “He’s incarcerated in Virginia,” Vic said. “He admits to kidnapping you, and that’s why he’s in jail. He tells how he found you—”

“He just says my last name,” Matt whispered, but there was an undercurrent of fear in his words. Vic felt it in his lover’s thoughts. Fear of discovery. It made his normally strong voice tremble. “Maybe no one will know it’s me.”

With a derisive snort, Vic muttered, “Because diLorenzo is such a common name. He says you live in Richmond. He says you’re a swim instructor at a local gym. He does everything short of broadcasting your Social Security number in this damn article, Matty. Anyone with an Internet connection and half a brain could find you from this.”

It finally sunk in. Vic watched Matt’s face crumple like a used tissue, and the hand holding the tabloid released it to seek out Vic’s sure grip instead. As his fingers curled into Vic’s, Matt took a hitching breath, then let it out in a sad sigh. “f**k. I thought we were through with him.”

Vic had thought so, too. As he stood there trying to find something encouraging to say, Matt squeezed his hand and looked up at his lover, fear still plainly etched on his face. In a small voice, he whispered, “So now everyone knows.”

Panic gripped Vic. He spun around, eyes scanning the crowd, sure Matt was right, everyone did know. Who else would try to steal his Matty away now? Who among these people simply waited for a chance to take his powers as their own? Vic would have to be vigilant, on constant guard, if he hoped to protect Matt from…from…

The rest of the world.

No one met Vic’s roaming gaze. Shoppers in line stood with their baskets, bored expressions on their bland faces. None of them huddled together, throwing glances Matt’s way, as if conspiring to snatch him up. Maybe if Vic bought all the copies of the tabloid, no one would be able to read the article. How many copies could the store have on the shelves? How many more in the stock room?

And how many stores carry this title? He frowned at the cover of the tabloid, still clutched tight in his fist. In how many cities? You can’t buy every single copy of this issue, you just can’t. Concentrate on what you can do and keep Matt safe.

Oh, like he had when Jordan abducted his lover. It had taken him more than twenty-four hours to locate Matt, a fact for which he’d never forgive himself. For months afterward, Vic had refused to let Matt out of his sight, and even now, he hated to let Matt go anywhere but the gym without an escort. And now the gym’s off-limits, too. If I ever meet up with Jordan again, he’s dead.

Skirting the shopping cart, Matt pressed against Vic for some measure of comfort. “What are we going to do?”

Buy all the copies.

Vic still liked that thought, but another look around assured him that none of the shoppers in the lanes nearby even seemed to notice the stupid publication. Maybe Matty had been right—maybe no one did read this garbage. But the moment Vic went around scooping up all the copies, someone would notice and wonder why he bothered. People would begin grabbing issues for themselves, and he would only draw attention to the one thing he wanted no one else to see.

Matt’s hand in his tightened. “Vic?”

Rolling up the tabloid, Vic dropped it into their basket. “Nothing,” he muttered. “Not just yet. You’re probably right, Matty. No one reads this trash.”

“But my name is in it.” Matt’s eyes had a dazed look, as if this couldn’t be happening to him. “You said it yourself. Anyone in the world could Google me using the information in that article and they’d find me in two seconds. Jordan found me through the paper. You don’t think they have archives online? Type in diLorenzo and Richmond and see how many hits you get. I guarantee they all lead to me.”

Vic ran an arm around Matt’s shoulders and pulled him into a tight, one-armed hug. “Calm down,” he murmured, planting a brusque kiss on his lover’s temple. “Nothing will happen to you. I won’t let it.”

Then, remembering they were in public, he let his hand drop to the middle of Matt’s back. When the line in front of them moved, he guided Matt along with it. At the counter now, Vic began to unload their groceries onto the conveyor belt. Matt hesitated, then followed suit. “What about when I’m at work?” he wanted to know. “Jordan called me there.”

“I’ll take you to work,” Vic assured him. “And pick you up in the evening on my way home from the garage. Is Roxie still screening your calls?”

When Jordan first found Matt, he’d called the gym twice. Both calls had unnerved Matt, and he arranged for the gym’s receptionist to only send back calls she knew were legitimate. Since then, Matt’s office phone rarely rang. One time he’d overheard Roxie questioning his chlorine supplier, and thought maybe she had a sadistic streak that thrived on such interrogation. “Who’s calling?” she asked, and then, “From where? Who are you with? What is the nature of your business? What’s your phone number? Is it important he speaks with you today?” He received all his calls on little pink pieces of paper now, and the only person ever patched through to his office was Vic.

Vic picked that memory from Matt’s mind and grinned. The gesture felt plastic and fake to him, but it eased the tension running through his lover’s body, if just a little. Vic felt Matt’s muscles relax through the psychic connection they shared. “You’ll be fine, then. She’ll keep them at bay, and if anyone gets past her, I’ll kick their ass.”

Matt sighed. “Vic—”

But Vic silenced him with another quick kiss, this one on the lips. He didn’t care who saw it. “What do you think I have these powers for?” he asked Matt. “Why do you think you give them to me? To protect you. That’s my sole mission in life, Matty, and I learned it the hard way. I won’t lose you again. Not to anyone.”

Chapter 2

As Vic drove them home, Matt read the full article in the car. Though Jordan’s name was never mentioned, Matt knew it had to be him. He could practically hear the asshole’s voice in his mind as he read the words on the paper.

And the fact that the fucker gave out his name, Christ! Why not just call him “Matt?” Why “M. diLorenzo?” According to the reporter, the partial use of his name was to protect his identity, but Vic was right—how many diLorenzos were there in Virginia? It wasn’t exactly an everyday, household name. There was only one diLorenzo listed in the phone book, and that was his father.

Thank God his name is David. If it were Mark or Michael or anything that started with an M, people would think Matt’s father was the one mentioned in the article and, Jesus, but he didn’t even want to think about that.

Matt suppressed a shudder at the thought of the phone calls his parents were likely to get. They knew their only son was gay, but he didn’t think they’d find it very funny if anonymous strangers began calling to hook up with him.

Should he tell them himself then? Give them a head’s up about what might happen in the next few days? “Hey, Mom, Dad, remember that kid Jordan I used to know back in high school? You probably never knew we were sexually active back then—I mean, we were just teenagers, what did we know? But now he’s told a tabloid that he got super powers from me when we f****d and I’m thinking maybe someone might call the house looking to get in touch with me—you know, someone who wants those powers for himself. So if that happens, can you just tell them you don’t know me? Thanks, I love you, bye.”

Yeah, that would go over big. His mom was still adjusting to Vic’s presence in Matt’s life; she had no clue about the powers. It was a part of himself Matt had kept from his parents—hell, from the world. He’d discovered his strange ability with Jordan, but he never told anyone about it before Vic. He’d never trusted anyone else the way he trusted his lover. The secret had been safe between them.

Until now.

Pulling to a stop in front of their apartment building, Vic yanked up the parking brake and flicked his hand at the paper in Matt’s grip. “Put that thing away, will you?” he asked as he turned off the car. “You can’t let him get to you.”

“Easy for you to say.” Matt folded the paper in half again and again, until it was a bulky square he shoved into one of the plastic grocery bags at his feet. “Your name’s not in it.”

Vic had started to step out of the car. At Matt’s muttered words, he froze; a moment later, he pulled his leg back inside the vehicle and slammed the door shut. Matt pouted at Vic as his lover turned toward him, the look on his face thunderous.

“I’m sorry,” Matt sighed. “I’m just shook up right now, Vic. You know that. I don’t mean to take it out on you—”

“Matty.” Vic’s steady voice reverberated through him, accompanied by a mental rush of love that ignited Matt’s veins like lines of kerosene. “Listen. You’re right, it’s not my name in there. It’s yours. And that matters more to me than if they’d printed the number to my cell beneath the words For a Good Time Call. I can deal with idiots tracking me down through that paper. I can protect myself. It’s you I’m worried about.”

A dull anger rose in Matt. It wasn’t Vic’s fault, he tried to remind himself, but that was cold comfort. His name was in that paper, his secret blabbed to the world. “I’m sure I’ll handle it,” he muttered, crossing his arms in a huff. “I lived on my own for quite a while without your help, Vic. I’m not completely helpless.”

His lover sighed, and his next words spoke directly into Matt’s mind. ::I know you’re not, Matty. But I will be if I lose you.::

A tentative hand stretched across the gear shift to touch Matt’s leg. Strong fingers curled around his knee, but there was something so needy in that gesture, something so loving, that Matt’s anger dispersed before it. This was not Vic’s fault. Unfurling his arms, he eased his fingers into his lover’s palm, then raised that hand to his lips and kissed the rough knuckles. With a slow smile, he gave Vic a shy glance and tugged on his hand, pulling him closer. “Come here, you.”

Vic’s mouth closed over his in a real kiss, more meaningful than the quick pecks they’d stolen at the store. As Vic’s tongue eased between Matt’s lips, tasting him, claiming him, Matt ran his arms around his lover’s broad shoulders and pulled him close, closer, until Vic was half in the passenger seat, pressing Matt back against the car door. Between kisses, Vic murmured, “That paper’s going in the trash the minute we get inside.”

Matt ran a hand down Vic’s chest, over his belly, over his belt buckle, to fist around the growing bulge at his crotch. Unzipping Vic’s jeans, Matt delved into his lover’s fly, between the flap on his briefs, to take Vic’s stiffening d**k in his hand. As his fingers encircled his lover’s shaft, Vic’s eyes slipped shut and a lusty moan escaped his throat. Suddenly he was nuzzling Matt’s neck, licking him, sucking, as his hips thrust against Matt’s hand. With a breathy laugh, Matt teased, “If that’s the first thing you want to do when we’re finally alone…”

Teeth nipped at Matt’s neck in a sexy, playful bite. “You said we had to wait,” Vic reminded him. “You wanted to make love on the stroke of midnight, remember? Our anniversary.”

Massaging the front of Vic’s jeans, Matt kissed his lover’s earring-studded lobe and blew softly in his ear. Vic shuddered above him, arms grasping Matt to pull him close. “What’s wrong with a little foreplay?” Before Vic could answer, Matt added, “Inside.”

Vic reached behind him and opened the car door. Matt tumbled out to land on his backside on the curb. The chill from the sidewalk immediately seeped through his jeans, and he laughed as Vic clambered from the car. His lover’s face was slack with lust, and the fly on his jeans gaped open, the pink tip of his c**k peeking out. As the cold December air played over the sensitive skin, Vic’s d**k jerked to attention. Vic’s voice was thick with desire when he growled, “Lead the way.”

“Hello to you, too,” Matt joked. “You’re dangling.”

“What?” Standing, Vic glanced down and saw his erection jutting from his crotch. Quickly he tucked it back into his pants and zipped up. “s**t. You’re going to get me in trouble, flashing the whole neighborhood.”

Matt held his arms out to his lover. “Help me up and you can flash me inside.”

Vic grunted as he took Matt’s hands in his and hauled his lover up off the sidewalk. “You’ve seen it before.”

With a hungry kiss that made Vic stumble back against the car, Matt purred, “Show me again.”