Authors: RJ Scott
Jesse's Christmas (10 page)
“If I’ve pushed you—if it’s too soon…”
“No. See, that is what I want to say. I need you.”
“You have me.”
With concentration and utter determination, Jesse took the kisses lower, across Gabriel’s chest, following the trail of hair.
Gabriel tasted just as Jesse imagined, and when he squirmed and Jesse swallowed him farther down, Gabriel rested a hand gently on Jesse’s head. The fingers twisted in his hair, and Gabriel arched up. Jonah had often held him, and it was like being forced; he hadn’t been able to move. Why hadn’t he realized that? That wasn’t love; that had been control. But Gabriel’s hold wasn’t to keep Jesse still like it always had been with Jonah. No, this was different. Gabriel just seemed to want to anchor himself to the here and now as he stammered a breathless, “W-wait”.
Jesse took his mouth from Gabriel’s gorgeous, curved cock and replaced his tongue and lips with his hand. Gabriel kept his hand pressed into Jesse’s hair and arched again until they set a rhythm, and only then did Jesse lower his head and take the kiss he had been wanting since they entered the room. He could do more of this. He would love more of this. This was making love, and his throat was tight with inexplicable emotion. Gabriel’s free hand gripped Jesse’s ass, the slide of his hand and Gabriel’s cock against his own meant suddenly Jesse was so close.
“So hot,” Jesse breathed into a kiss, pulling back and watching Gabriel’s graceful throat as he arched his neck in orgasm. Jesse followed on the next glide of his cock in the wetness between them, coming so hard he swore he stopped breathing.
Gabriel grabbed a T-shirt and swiped at the mess between them. The alarm clock showed eleven pm, and Jesse was exhausted and relaxed. Curling behind Gabriel, spooning him with a possessive hand on his stomach and another under his lover’s neck, Jesse let sleep take him under.
Chapter 12
Jesse woke first. The drapes were open to the vista beyond—pine trees and bare oaks glittering with ice crystals. He blinked at the beauty, and then the sensation of complete rightness at being in bed with Gabriel hit him. This felt more than right. It was perfect and the buzz of Christmas excitement coursed through him. He could do this every day he was in Eden Vale. In fact, Gabriel made him feel he could do this for longer. Gabriel murmured in his sleep as Jesse withdrew his arm from under him, tensing and relaxing as pins and needles burned through to his fingers. The buzz was worth it. Yawning, he climbed out from under the quilt and took his cell from the pocket of his discarded pants before he used the bathroom. There was a new pack of toothbrushes in the cupboard under the sink, and Jesse made good use of one to clean morning breath. Sitting on the closed toilet, he dialed Emma.
“Merry Christmas, Jesse,” she said brightly. Jesse grinned at the noise in the background—children and laughter and Emma’s life.
“Merry Christmas, Em.”
“I loved today’s photo. Hang on.” She obviously moved somewhere quieter as the noise level subsided. “You still there?”
“I am. What did you like about it?” Emma couldn’t know for one minute how much of the remainder of his natural life depended on what she said. He wasn’t going to tell her. This had to come from her heart.
“Oh, babe, they’ve all been so beautiful. Damn you for making me cry. The pictures from the candle ceremony… And the words you use… And the kids all dressed up for that play they did… And oh my goodness, who is the man with the blue eyes from today’s photo?” Her sentences didn’t quite finish, but it didn’t matter what she said. She saw what he saw in the photos, and that was enough.
“That’s Gabriel.”
“He looked straight at you as you took it, Jesse, and he has a beautiful smile.”
“I know. He is a beautiful person.”
“Does he know you feel that?”
Jesse wondered how, in a single question, she could cut to the chase that quickly. He leaned over and pushed the door shut.
“I’m really scared, Em.”
“What of? Talk to me.”
“Of feeling this way.”
“Are you overthinking this, Jesse?”
Jesse considered the question.
Was
he overthinking this whole thing? Why was he worrying about whether or not to let Gabriel into his heart? What did he have to lose? At least Gabriel had shown him he still had a heart. He had shown him this town wasn’t about only Christmas; it was family and community and trust and love.
“I probably am,” he said.
“Just take it a day at a time. See if this Gabriel can mend all the bits inside you that Jonah broke.”
“Thank you, Em.” He heard a voice calling for her momma in the background, and it was time for him to let his agent go back to her family. “Merry Christmas.”
“Have a good Christmas day, Jesse. Say hi to Gabriel for me and bring him into the city after New Year’s.”
He ended the call, and stretching tall, he opened the door and walked out of the bathroom. Then he stopped dead.
Gabriel remained asleep and had rolled onto his front. Jesse saw physical perfection as the quilt had slipped down, revealing his lover’s broad shoulders and upper back. His five o’clock shadow was dark, his hair raven-black, and he looked peaceful and beautiful as the Christmas Day sun streaming in through the window. Jesse placed his cell on the dresser and grabbed his Nikon. He focused in on tiny details. The curve of Gabriel’s ass at the edge of the quilt. The strength of his shoulders and the faint dusting of hair on his arms.
His eyelashes were long and thick and sweeping shadows on his cheekbones. Every physical part of Gabriel was, to Jesse, faultless, but it wasn’t only that. Gabriel was a good person, a strong person, a man with a heart, a sense of community and family. Jesse wanted that person in his life. He wasn’t naïve; it would take more than the few weeks he’d been here to feel whole again, but Gabriel made him hope. Offered him so much.
Jesse smiled as Gabriel opened his eyes and sleepily looked straight into the lens. He took shot after shot as Gabriel’s expression changed from sleepy to surprised to fully awake. The shot he wanted, of Gabriel against the white pillow, his head cushioned on one arm and the promise of sin in his blue eyes was captured in a second. He placed the camera carefully on the dresser and then crossed to the bed, leaning over Gabriel, who turned to lie on his back and reach up for Jesse.
“Merry Christmas,” Jesse said gently and climbed under the quilt to rest his head on Gabriel’s chest.
“Merry Christmas, Jesse.” Gabriel’s voice held a strange quality and it unnerved Jesse. Maybe Gabriel was regretting last night. Summoning every ounce of courage, he looked up at Gabriel, hoping he wouldn’t see regret. Gabriel was actually smiling.
“Do you know you have the most incredible eyes?” Gabriel said softly. He carded his hand through Jesse’s hair, and it was all Jesse could do not to purr like a cat.
“I do?” he said instead. Jesse had never thought of his eyes as incredible. Jonah had said they were brown. Sometimes Jesse thought they might be hazel. But they had never been described as incredible.
Gabriel continued, “I see green and flecks of brown and gold. Beautiful.”
“Thank you.” What else could he say?
“Stay,” Gabriel then added simply.
“In bed?” Jesse laughed low. “What about the big holiday dinner your mother has planned?”
“I mean stay longer.”
“I’m here ’til after New Year’s,” Jesse replied.
“No.” Gabriel entangled his hand deeper in Jesse’s hair, pulling his head down to kiss him. “Stay much longer.”
“Much longer? How long is much longer?”
“How about forever?” Gabriel was serious, and his expression was thoughtful.
Jesse didn’t have to consider the idea for very much time at all. To go back to the city, with memories of Jonah and a rootless life where he simply lived day to day? Or to stay here with Gabriel? In this small valley town. Sleeping in a bed carved by Gabriel’s father. Watching Mavis and Anna and their candle making traditions. Seeing Cameron, the space cowboy, and Diana holding hands with Austin. There was only one real decision to make.
“I want to try forever. But…”
“But?”
“Will you help me?” He was so utterly lost about what to say here. He thought it was love; he wanted it to be love. He couldn’t do it alone, couldn’t traverse the rocky road back to letting himself feel without the support of this man.
“Always, Jesse.”
“Next Christmas,” Jesse started softly, “if you thought it would work, I could help run some kind of photo competition for the town.”
“You could.”
“And I could help you shovel the snow from the front walk of your momma’s hotel.”
“I could always use the help.” Gabriel had a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye, and Jesse took the moment to steal a kiss.
Christmas spirit, community strength, or love? It didn’t matter what it was that melted the ice around Jesse’s heart; it just mattered that Gabriel had been there the whole time.
Showing him anything was possible.
THE END
RJ Scott
RJ Scott lives just outside London. She has been writing since age six, when she was made to stay in at lunchtime for an infraction involving cookies and was told to write a story. Two sides of A4 about a trapped princess later, a lover of writing was born. She loves reading anything from thrillers to sci-fi to horror; however, her first real love will always be the world of romance. Her goal is to write stories with a heart of romance, a troubled road to reach happiness, and more than a hint of happily ever after.
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Webpage:
www.rjscott.co.uk
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