Convincing Landon (14 page)

“Sure.” Kendall jumped up and got him one.

“Thanks.” Landon opened the bottle and downed half its contents, just to make sure his throat wouldn’t dry out at a critical moment.

Kendall stood up and got everyone’s attention. “Hey everyone, this is Landon.”

“Hi, Landon.” It was like a chorus at an AA meeting.

By the time they had all introduced themselves, Landon was dizzy. The quarterback he thought he’d recognised was indeed Greg’s assistant coach and former student, David Lear. He was here with his partner, Elliot, who was apparently Kendall’s cousin. Then there were the three Fortin brothers—Zeke, who was looking for a charity to help, William, who was forensic scientist with the county, and Jason, who sold cars for a living. They looked a lot alike with various shades of blond hair and blue eyes…except for Jason, whose grey-green eyes set him apart. They’d each brought their partners as well—Ben, an extremely tall detective, Vicente, an elegant-looking Latino bartender, and Steve, a powerful black man who was a window washer for Ambrose & Quinley.

Landon wasn’t at all sure he’d remember all of their names, but he’d give it a try.

“Right, now that we know who everyone is, let me explain what this is all about.” Kendall took a sip of his juice and launched into the explanation of what Elliot had suggested.

The more Kendall revealed of their plan, the more Landon liked it. Zeke, the eldest Fortin brother, spoke up and explained why he wanted to do this. He sounded a lot like Kendall—disillusioned with the money-grabbing nature of his previous profession, he was now looking for something more worthwhile to spend his time and money on.

Good for them!

The two younger Fortin brothers, while not disillusioned yet, wanted to join the effort because it was a worthy cause and to help out their brother. Jason wasn’t even old enough to control his trust fund, but wanted to contribute as soon as he was able.

With financial backing like this, the city council wouldn’t know what hit them in tomorrow’s meeting!

* * * *

Riverside, Texas

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Landon put the last decorations on their tree and took a step back to check the effect.

“Wow, that looks amazing.” Kendall had sneaked up on him again—his steps muffled by the thick woollen socks they’d taken to wearing when they were in the apartment that was no longer just Kendall’s, but was slowly becoming a home they truly shared.

“You like it?” Landon turned around to take the mug with hot mulled wine Kendall had got for him. He took a sip and moaned. “This is the best recipe ever. I wish your grandmother was still around so I could thank her.”

“It’s good, I agree. I also think the silver and blue colour theme for our tree works really well.” Kendall looked so happy it made Landon’s heart jump for joy. “It’s certainly the most beautiful tree I’ve ever had in this apartment.”

“I’m glad.” Landon sipped more of the wine before putting the mug on the low table. He sat on the soft rug with his back to the sofa, enjoying the view of the tree in the corner between the windows and the fireplace. The stockings on the mantle added splotches of colour, as did the Christmas cards they’d displayed on the mantelpiece. He held out his hand and pulled a very willing Kendall to sit between his spread legs. “We deserve some beauty, not to mention a bit of peace and quiet in our lives.”

“Yeah, the last few weeks have been just a bit too hectic.” Kendall put his head on Landon’s shoulder and leaned into his embrace. They’d discovered they were both fans of cuddling and practiced their new shared hobby at every opportunity.

“Do you regret any of it?” Landon didn’t think Kendall did, but it was always best to check. That was one of the many lessons they’d learnt as they worked on building their relationship.

“No way!” Kendall looked up at him, eyes wide. “It was all worth it anyway, because I’ve ended up with a much better job, working for AFTE. Elliot is a great colleague and I like that both he and David have become good friends. But the best part—the bit that would be worth any sacrifice—was our reunion. I’ll be eternally grateful you took the first step. I’m not sure I could have convinced you, although I’m sure I would have tried.”

 
“I’m glad I was able to convince myself.” Landon chuckled. “That sounds really odd, but you know what? That’s exactly what it felt like. I just wish I’d done it earlier and not waited until my father’s death made me come back to Riverside for more than a weekend visit with Greg.”

“The job opportunity helped as well, right?” Kendall snuggled more deeply into Landon’s arms.

It seemed as if Kendall made sure his backside was rubbing against Landon’s already half-hard cock. The little tease. Landon grinned. He liked that Kendall seemed to be horny all the time. It was an excellent match for his own libido.

“Of course it did, but in a way, it was just the icing on the cake. The thing that made it easier for me to make a decision I knew deep down I was going to make anyway.” Landon slid his arms around Kendall’s middle and held on, breathing in the scent of mulled wine, Kendall’s cologne and pure Kendall underneath it all.

“I’m very grateful things worked out so well.” Kendall closed his eyes and dozed for a while, as he often would when he was warm and safe in Landon’s arms.

The last three weeks, as hectic as they’d been, had been the best of Landon’s life. The offer they’d made to the city council—with Zeke’s and William’s help—had been accepted. No surprise there. Rather than work everything via Promises Kept, the idea of running their
own
charity—with Zeke and Landon as its leaders—had been born and accepted by the group. Rick—Ben’s younger brother, who was a lawyer—helped them with setting up a charitable trust, and AFTE was working on designs for a state-of-the-art homeless shelter and counselling centre. Everyone involved had donated their time, and the project was well on track.

It was definitely time to celebrate. They had a ton of guests coming tomorrow, most of them their new friends and helpers, but tonight was Christmas Eve and just for them.

“Are you ready to go to bed?” Landon caressed Kendall’s stomach, making his lover moan and push up his groin to try to reach Landon’s hand.

“It’s a bit early, isn’t it?” Kendall turned around and looked at Landon with a quizzical expression.

“Sleep wasn’t exactly what was on my mind.” Landon winked as he let his hand slide lower on Kendall’s abdomen, still without touching where he knew his lover wanted it. Anticipation was half the fun.

“Oh. Oh, of course not.” Kendall grinned. “Must have had too much mulled wine.”

“Are you drunk?” Landon widened his eyes in mock horror. “You know it’s not safe to drink and sex.”

“‘Drink and sex’?” Kendall laughed out loud. “Is that a new misdemeanour or something? I think you’ve been spending too much time around Ben.”

“It’s got nothing to do with him. I’ve just got your safety in mind at all times. That spiral staircase leading up to the bedroom in the loft could be lethal if you’re not careful.” Landon really was scared that they’d have an accident one of these days. With the amount of fooling around all over the apartment, it was a miracle nothing had happened so far.

“Well, we’ll just have to be careful then.” Kendall got up but—from the looks of it—he wasn’t too steady on his legs at all.

Landon supported him up the stairs by holding on to his ass, which made Kendall laugh and swerve on purpose so Landon had to tighten his grip. When they were finally upstairs and had closed the bedroom door behind them for warmth, they took their clothes off in record time and quickly jumped between the sheets. Crawling into each other’s arms for warmth got more than their body temperature to rise.

“God, I love this.” Kendall’s voice was muffled because he was burrowed against Landon’s chest, licking and softly biting his nipples.

Landon moaned and slid his hands down to cup Kendall’s tempting ass. Frottage with Kendall was so hot that it was their most frequent activity—in bed and out. They’d made very sure the entire apartment was christened…several times. Landon rolled them so he was on top and started to really grind his hips. Kendall pushed back up and lifted his head for a kiss.

They thrust their tongues in time with the movements of their lower bodies, and Landon thought the top of his head really might blow off this time. Kendall sucked on his tongue as if his life depended on it. He kept his hands on Landon’s buttocks for the added pressure he needed for his arousal to grow. Coming was soon deliciously inevitable.

When Kendall slid a single finger along his crack then penetrated his hole, Landon lost it and came. His body was still jerking with the ecstatic pleasure as he rubbed his still spurting cock against Kendall’s bucking hips when Kendall screamed his name and more heat joined the mess between their bodies.

“Shit, that was good.” Kendall kissed him again and reached for the wet wipes on the nightstand to clean them up.

“It gets better every time too.” Landon rolled to his side and helped with the cleaning effort, then discarded the used tissues in the trash can next to the bed and pulled Kendall back into his arms.

“We just need to keep practicing then.” Kendall grinned and cuddled in. “Need to find out if there are any limits.”

“Not sure there are.” He might also die of pleasure before they ever got there.

“We need to be thorough.” Kendall yawned and closed his eyes. “Wouldn’t want to miss anything important, like a major revelation.”

“Got you.” Landon didn’t want to miss anything either.

He closed his eyes, listening to his lover’s soft breathing. Convincing Landon of all kinds of new things they just ‘had to’ try had become Kendall’s newest hobby. Landon grinned as he drifted off to sleep. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

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