Courage and Comfort (4 page)

“Damn, that’s sexy.” Utah
grabbed the wetsuit and pulled it the rest of the way down. Edmund lifted one
foot to step out of it but left the fabric puddled around the other foot. Utah
repeated the motions with Edmund’s swimwear,
then
ran
a gentle hand down Edmund’s back, enjoying the feel of his muscles, his spine,
and the sexy little shiver he gave at Utah’s touch. “You’re so hot. Everything
you do turns me on.”

“It’s mutual. Just seeing you
makes me horny.”

“Let’s get that ass of yours
all nice and pink,” said Utah, slapping first the right butt cheek, then the
left. Utah set a steady pace but deliberately had no pattern to his strokes. He
didn’t want Edmund to start leaning into the hits. He wanted his lover on edge,
expectant, aroused. Utah knew how to paddle Edmund to arouse them both to the
highest possible level before he entered his partner. Edmund’s pale ass was
already a healthy pink, and both their cocks were engorged, standing upright,
and the heads red. It was very nearly
time
.

Quickly Utah slathered lube
onto his cock, and then he slapped Edmund hard on the inside of his thigh high
up near his balls and followed through with another slap to the same position
on the other inside thigh.

“You’re killing me. I need
you so much,” Edmund moaned.

“I need you too,” Utah
whispered. He pushed his slippery fingers into Edmund’s ass, and quickly
stretched the muscles. As fast as he could, he loosened the entry and swapped
out his fingers for his cock.

His dick was
aching,
it was so ready for action. His balls were hard and
tight, and he was desperate to be much deeper inside Edmund. With one hand on
his aching dick, he pushed hard and slid farther into the hot, dark, welcoming
channel, reveling in the feeling of being at home.
Yes, home. We belong together. Apart, we’re unfinished, but together we’re
a single, complete unit.

Utah gripped one of Edmund’s
hips with his hand and reached around Edmund to grab his dick with his other
hand. Then he started a fast in-and-out pace, his dick and hips and hand all
working together.

Edmund pressed back against
him, pushing their bodies so tightly together the sweat on their skin made them
stick to each other. Once again Utah had the sensation of them being totally
united, a single entity,
two
hearts beating in unison.
Then Edmund placed his own hand on top of Utah’s and both of them tugged on
Edmund’s cock, their hips pumping back and forth at high speed as they climbed
higher and higher, nearer to the peak of orgasm. “So close,” Edmund murmured.

“Then let it go. Come now.
Come with me.” Utah pulled out until just the head of his cock was still inside
Edmund, then slammed in as hard and deep as he could, swiveling his hips to the
right, then the left as he did so.

Edmund gave a keening wail,
and cum exploded over both their hands. Gratefully, Utah relaxed the iron
control he’d been maintaining over his aching dick, and his essence blasted
into Edmund’s hot ass. Utah pumped again and again, holding Edmund’s cock in
one hand and his hips in the other.

More seed jetted from both
their cocks until, finally, they both stopped. As his cock slid from Edmund’s
body, Utah kissed Edmund’s neck. “Thank you, lover, for a hell of a ride.”

Edmund twisted round to face
Utah. “It’s not you, and it’s not me. It’s us. When we’re together, it’s—I don’t
know—special somehow.”

“Absolutely.
I
was just thinking that. We belong together.”

They hugged briefly, and then
Utah pulled away from Edmund. “Oh man, we really need a shower now.”

****

They wandered hand-in-hand
along the main street of
Rocky
Point Beach. Supposedly they were choosing a place to eat supper, but really
they were just enjoying the release of the tension after finding the
aquamarine. They stopped in some of the stores and poked through the goods on
display, laughing at the slogans on T-shirts, trying on flip-flops and beach
sandals, and shaking their heads at some of the tacky pictures on postcards.

One store had stone paperweights, and Utah wandered over to them, picked
them up, and looked at them. Edmund stood by and watched, then found his hand
reaching out all by itself for a pale blue one that reminded him of the
aquamarine. Utah picked up a green one that was almost exactly the same shape
and texture, just with the different color. “Why don’t we get one of
these
each for Mavis and AJ? Kind of like a memento of this
trip?”

“Yes, good idea. Do you think we should get a gift for the baby as
well? I guess, by the next time we go on vacation, he’ll be old enough we
should bring him a present.”

“Sure, but what do you buy a baby? It’s not like he’s old enough for a
bucket and spade to dig in the sand.”

Holding the two paperweights, they walked over to a rack of children’s
toys. Slowly, they walked down the aisle, looking at everything, until right in
the corner Edmund saw one of those stretchy things parents hung across a crib
for a baby to play with. This one had hollow balls of different colors,
including one of palest blue and another of deep green. Without a word he
picked it up and showed Utah.

Utah nodded. “Perfect.”

Happy with their purchases, they walked on through the town, stopping
at last at a pizza and pasta restaurant where they enjoyed their meal and
relaxed before finally returning to their room to make long, slow love in bed.

****

Packing their luggage didn’t
take long, and they were on the road heading home before nine the next morning.
Mostly they traveled in companionable silence, but every now and then Edmund
would stroke the aquamarine in his pocket, and Utah, who was driving, would
look across at him and smile.

“The whole thing still seems
weird and almost unbelievable, but we did it,” Edmund said.

“Yes, I know. I find the
whole paranormal situation way out of left field, but it did call to you and it
does seem right.”

“Do you think it wanted us to
buy those paperweights as well? I felt drawn to them too, and even to that baby
toy.”

“I don’t know. But right now
I’m not prepared to discard any possibility.”

“Hell
no.
Me either. So how do we give it to Mavis? Just hand it over
and say ‘Now you’ll be fine’? That seems callous.” Edmund stared at Utah’s
face, but Utah was concentrating on the road.

“Didn’t AJ say she was
meditating on it or planning a ceremony or something? I expect she’ll have
thought through all that. AJ’s a mighty-smart woman and knows her stuff. She
also seems to understand your sister too.”

“Oh yes, that’s true. I’d
forgotten. I’m happy to leave the program to her. I’m just so pleased we found
it. And I bet our e-mail boxes are full and Jayne will have a list of jobs for
us to do that’ll keep us busy for the rest of the week.”

Edmund relaxed into his seat
as they talked idly about their business, their jobs, and their family as the
miles rolled past them and they headed home. And every few miles Edmund continued
to let his fingers touch the aquamarine that was going to help his sister
reclaim her life and rear her son.

Chapter
Five

Five big cushions were set
out in a rough circle on the floor. AJ and Mavis were each sitting on one, the
baby laid sleeping on another, and AJ gestured for the men to sit on the
remaining two. As soon as they were settled, she lit a large candle in front of
her and passed it to Mavis, who used the flame to light a tiny tea candle she
placed in front of the baby and a slightly larger candle she rested in front of
herself. Mavis passed the large candle to Utah, who lit his candle, and Edmund
did the same before returning the primary candle to AJ.

Next, AJ took a bowl of
potpourri and herbs, sprinkled them in front of her, and passed the bowl to
Mavis. Once again everyone repeated her actions.

Finally, she placed a loaf of
home-baked bread and a jug of water in the center of the cushions. “Lay out
your gifts,” she instructed Edmund.

Edmund and Utah had discussed
how they would do this and decided cupping their hands with the rocks held by
both of them was the safest method. First they each picked up one end of the baby’s
toy, leaned forward together, and placed it in front of the sleeping infant. Then
very carefully, they scooped the pale blue paperweight into their joined hands
and laid it in front of Mavis before taking the green one and doing the same
for AJ. Finally, having considered the previous gifts a kind of practice run
for the important task of getting the giving of the aquamarine correct, they
gathered it in their joined hands and offered it to Mavis, waiting for her to
take it from them and hold it herself.

Mavis quietly scooped it from
their joined hands and clutched it to her chest, silent tears trickling from
her pale blue eyes as she sobbed brokenly. “Oh John.”

AJ held her arms above her head
and spoke firmly but gently. “Aquamarines have the power to release anxiety.
They soothe and calm fears and combat depression. The aquamarine is the stone
of courage. It accelerates knowledge and reasoning, not just learning from
others, but also learning of
oneself
. Mavis, you are
not alone. You have family and friends who will always support you. But more
than that, with this stone is the promise that your John is always with you and
will forever offer you the advice and help you need to rear his son.” AJ
lowered her arms and kept her gaze steady on Mavis.

Edmund almost held his
breath, wondering how—or even if—she’d respond.

“Thank you for bringing me
the stone. Knowing John’s spirit is inside it means more to me than I can ever
tell you.” She clutched the stone tighter, hard against her chest. “Having seen
you all demonstrate your love for me like this means a lot to me. With you
three helping me, and with John too, I’ll try, I’ll really try.”

Mavis’s tears fell faster
now, but Edmund thought she seemed stronger, as if having John with her really
was helping her to find a stable base she could build on.

At that moment John Jr.
stirred and reached out his hand. With the aimless grip of the very young, he
grabbed hold of the aquamarine ball in his toy and held it.

“Your son understands. He
will grow up to be a credit to both you and his father,” AJ intoned.

Edmund looked at Utah and saw
the same drop-jawed gaze he was sure was on his own face. It seemed the baby
knew more about this than he did. Well hell, as long as it aided Mavis, it was
all good as far as he was concerned.

****

“Let me love you, tonight. I
don’t know how I would have gotten through this time without you beside me to
strengthen and help me,” Edmund said.

“You’re strong. You would
have managed just fine. But I was pleased to be able to help you. I always plan
to be here to aid and support you. I love you so much,” Utah whispered.

“I love you too. And I
understand how much God has blessed us by bringing us together like this. I
hadn’t realized before just how few people ever find their soul mate the way we
have.”

Edmund slid down the bed
until his head was level with the yummiest cock in the world, Utah’s cock. He
climbed between Utah’s thighs, widening them, and very deliberately licked a
long, teasing stroke across Utah’s belly, stopping just short of his dick. Edmund
flicked his tongue into Utah’s belly button,
then
circled it before licking a line down south again, this time tracing the line between
Utah’s torso and his leg. When he stopped, Utah groaned, and he hid a grin
before crawling up Utah’s body a bit so he could lick across the muscled chest
and suck a tiny nipple into his mouth. Edmund sucked and licked and teased the
nipple until the hard little button was standing up straight and tall, then
moved across to repeat the procedure on the other side. By the time he
considered his job completed, Utah’s very-erect cock was pressing into Edmund’s
belly, its damp head making quite clear how effective Edmund’s love-making had
been.

Once again Edmund moved lower,
and this time he sucked one of Utah’s balls into his mouth and rolled it with
his tongue before licking it thoroughly. Then, feeling he’d tortured his lover
enough for the moment, Edmund swiped his tongue the length of Utah’s cock.

Utah groaned deeply thrusting
his hips up into Edmund’s mouth.

Edmund nibbled up and down
Utah’s cock, pressing his tongue into the thick, pulsing vein, scraping his
teeth gently across Utah’s cockhead, and then finally sucking as much of it as
he could into his mouth.

“Hell yeah,” Utah murmured,
his hips pumping frantically.

Edmund let the cock pop out
of his mouth. “Getting a little desperate there, are we?” But then he licked
the shaft again and sucked the head deep inside, tilting his head back as far
as he could in this position so more and more of Utah’s delicious dick was in
his mouth. Edmund rolled Utah’s balls as he sucked his partner’s dick, loving
the differing scents and flavors and textures of this man. The soft, spongy
cockhead, the rigid shaft, and the rougher, hairier balls, all overlaid by the
very special scent uniquely Utah.