Charity Starts at Home Read online

  Quinn smiled. “We can’t have that, now, can we?” He reached over to the nightstand to grab a condom. When he started rolling it on, Haden hissed.

  “Even this is a bit much. Fuck, Quinn,” Haden cursed.

  A teasing smile on his face, Quinn got up to look for the lube. Haden almost beat him to it, reaching for the bottle as Quinn sat on all fours.

  “Stay like this,” Haden suggested, uncapping the bottle of lube and squirting a bit on his fingers so he could warm it. He coated his condom and then wiped his fingers on Quinn’s entrance, making Quinn moan.

  Quinn was surprised how sensitive he still was. He blamed the lust he saw in Haden’s eyes and the fact that Haden’s naked body so close to him turned him on to no end. It also helped that it was finally going to happen. They were finally going to go all the way. He rolled his hips, pushing back against Haden’s fingers until the pressure went away and it was replaced by something colder and wetter.

  With a small grunt, Haden pushed inside him and Quinn moaned in response. Despite the feeling of relaxation, it still burned. Luckily Haden had some semblance of self-control and he didn’t push in farther until Quinn reached back to tell him it was okay. Rocking back and forth, Quinn felt Haden slip deeper into him until Haden was buried to the hilt. It felt good to be filled like that, but Quinn didn’t think he’d ever had a cock that size inside him. It took some adjusting.

  To Quinn’s despair, Haden noticed. “Relax,” he soothed. Haden moved back and forth with short, slow movements until Quinn’s breathing eased and his knees started sliding apart again. This made the angle of Haden’s movements change and Quinn couldn’t help whimpering.

  “Am I hurting you?” Haden asked, full of concern.

  “Fuck, no,” Quinn answered. “You’re going to make me come again if you keep doing it like that.” Quinn was almost on his stomach, legs spread as wide as they’d go, engorged cock rubbing over the bed sheet with every tiny movement Haden made. It wasn’t Quinn’s favorite position, but right now it felt so good, he didn’t want to move.

  “Let’s take it a bit easier then,” Haden suggested. He pushed Quinn to roll to his side until they were spooning, never ceasing the small slow movements. In this position, he wrapped an arm around Quinn’s torso and Quinn stretched his neck back so he could kiss Haden. Without really trying, Quinn ended up on his back, the leg nearest to Haden pulled up so Haden could continue moving in and out of him. Haden caressed Quinn’s chest, brushing carelessly over Quinn’s nipples and ribs, then back to his nipples and neck. Quinn’s skin started tingling again and their kisses became more heated, more passionate. From time to time, Haden gave Quinn’s cock a little tug, just enough to keep it rigid, and this kept Quinn right at the edge.

  “Want to feel your weight on me,” Quinn asked, his voice strained.

  “Missionary?” Haden asked.

  “Yes, my master,” Quinn joked, surprised at his own presence of mind.

  Somehow, they managed to get Quinn’s leg to the other side without Haden slipping out of him and when Haden thrust in from above—still gentle and caring, but now a bit more urgent—Quinn’s moan seemed to come from deep inside his belly.

  Their lovemaking so far had been gentle and slow, but now Haden clearly wanted to move things along. He pulled out almost to the point where Quinn wanted to protest and then plunged in deep, eliciting an appreciative groan from Quinn. They were kissing whenever their breathing allowed it and in between Haden hovered over Quinn, suspended by his outstretched arm, his other hand fisting Quinn’s cock between their bellies.

  “Closer,” Quinn demanded. “Want to feel your weight.”

  “But…,” Haden protested.

  Quinn pulled Haden’s head closer to exchange a searing kiss. When Haden finally gave in to bear his full weight on Quinn’s slighter frame, Quinn grabbed Haden’s ass cheeks with both hands, dictating his rhythm.

  “You’re so tight, feels so good,” Haden murmured.

  “Don’t stop,” Quinn replied, trying to make Haden speed up. “Gonna make me… come again.”

  Haden’s movements were becoming erratic, but Quinn could tell he was trying to last as long as possible. Despite the fact this was Quinn’s second orgasm in a short period, somehow he knew Haden was trying to make sure he came first.

  It didn’t take much more than that thought and Haden’s urgent thrusting to send Quinn over, the friction of his cock trapped between their bodies providing enough physical stimulation. Feeling the spasms ripple through his body while Haden continued pistoning in and out made it one of his most memorable orgasms to date. When Haden finally cried out, filling his condom with his release and collapsing on top of his lover, Quinn knew he’d reached heaven.

  Quinn held Haden close, cradling his head on his shoulder. Haden’s eyes were closed, his breathing slowly relaxing. They were still joined and Quinn was afraid to move. All he could do was gaze at the blissful face of his lover, illuminated by the reflection of the moonlight on the snow outside. This felt so right, he was overwhelmed by emotions.

  Finally Haden stirred. His eyes remained closed, but he snuck his hand between their bodies to hold on to the condom as his softening cock slipped out of Quinn.

  “Mmm, I miss you already,” Quinn murmured.

  Haden smiled and finally opened his eyes. Quinn thought Haden’s eyes looked as blue as he’d ever seen them. When Haden tried to get up, Quinn stopped him.

  “I’ll go.”

  Returning with a damp cloth, Quinn cleaned himself off and then gently wiped it over Haden’s belly. He held up the waste paper basket to let Haden drop the condom he was holding.

  Seeing Haden hold the blankets open so he could crawl in again, made Quinn love Haden even more than before, if that was possible.

  They snuggled close together, Haden on his back, Quinn resting his head on his hand, one knee draped over Haden.

  “I really like those tattoos, you know,” Quinn admitted while he was drawing over the dark lines with his finger.

  Haden shrugged. “They’ve been a part of me for so long, I don’t even notice them anymore.”

  Quinn raised an eyebrow. “Well, they’re new to me.”

  “Please tell me this won’t be our last time together?” Haden asked barely audibly, his gaze directed at the dark ceiling.

  Quinn put his head on Haden’s shoulder. “Why do you think that?”

  “You feel we’re too different.”

  “Money’s always going to be a point of discord between us,” Quinn said with a deep sigh of regret.

  “Even if I promise I won’t let it?” Haden tried.

  “You don’t even think about it, do you? You’ve always had money. You come from money, so you have no idea what it’s like to live without it.”

  “So teach me?”

  Quinn felt this was going nowhere, so he didn’t reply. This wasn’t the sort of thing you could teach anyone. On the other hand, Haden was telling him that he wanted them to stay together and right now, it was all Quinn wanted too.

  “We’ll take it one day at a time, okay?” Quinn eventually said. When this didn’t clear up the deep thought lines in Haden’s forehead, he added, “I don’t want tonight to be our only night. I want more nights like this.”

  Finally, a shy smile spread across Haden’s face. “I don’t mind sleeping here, as long as I’m with you. I don’t need the mansion and staff, you know.”

  “I know,” Quinn answered, not really sure where this was going, but happy they were talking about it.

  “I can help out here every night and maybe you can take one night a week off. Come back to my place and sleep without constantly worrying about your residents?”

  “I might worry about them even more when I’m not here,” Quinn replied.

  “Not if you have someone here to keep an eye on things for you. How about asking Karl? You know he’s responsible enough and I’m sure he’ll welcome the money.”

  Quinn nodded.

>   “You deserve one night off, Quinn.”

  Quinn knew Haden was right. “It’s not just being away from here that makes me feel guilty. It’s being away from here to bathe in the luxury of your house with Wilson making us breakfast and washing my clothes.”

  “I can give Wilson the night off when you come over,” Haden offered.

  Quinn smiled, but he wasn’t entirely convinced.

  “I want to make this work, Quinn. God knows, it’s taken me long enough to get here, but I’ve never felt for anyone what I feel for you. You’ve been so patient with me, never pushed me, always gave me plenty of space to get here in my own good time.”

  “Thought you’d never make it,” Quinn said quietly.

  “I didn’t think I would either, but now that I’m here, I don’t want to give you up.”

  Quinn smiled, knowing he felt the same way. “We could give it a try; letting Karl take care of the shelter for one night a week. Maybe at first let him do it while we sleep here anyway, so if anything goes wrong, he can still call us.”

  “There is such a thing as a phone, you know.”

  Quinn nodded.

  “Mother hen,” Haden added teasingly.

  Quinn poked him, knowing full well Haden was right.

  Haden didn’t say anything, just pulled Quinn closer to him, caressing his hair until they both became sleepy.

  “What time is it?” Haden asked eventually, yawning.

  Quinn reached for the small alarm clock on the nightstand. “Damn.”

  Haden gave him a questioning look.

  “We only have about thirty minutes before we need to get up again.”

  Haden groaned. “We haven’t even slept!”

  Quinn giggled. “No, we had better things to do with our time.”

  By the time the alarm went off, they were both sound asleep. They needed to get up though. They had presents to give out and sleep would have to wait.

  * * *

  They were still putting the packages under the tree when Camille came in. She looked at Haden, then at Quinn and Quinn braced himself for a brutally honest comment from her, but to his surprise she simply smiled and walked into the kitchen. Leaving Haden to get the last boxes out, he followed her.

  “Need some help?”

  “Nope, I’m fine. Did most of the work yesterday evening,” she replied, waltzing around the kitchen with her usual flair as she put on her apron and took food out of the large refrigerators.

  Quinn hung around, not really knowing what to do when she didn’t react the way he expected.

  Eventually she gave in. “So how was your night?”

  “Fine,” Quinn answered, unable to hide a wide smile.

  “Doesn’t look like ‘fine’ to me,” she answered, leaving a long pause. “You look like you haven’t slept at all.”

  “That’s because I haven’t. Not really.”

  She pinched his cheek when she passed him, but didn’t say anything. Quinn was dying to tell her, tell someone, but on the other hand he didn’t know exactly what he should tell her. It wasn’t like he could just blurt out that he and Haden had made love for the first time.

  “Haden looks happy,” she said as she returned to where Quinn was standing. “And the presents under the tree? Very impressive. They’ll love it when they wake up.”

  Keeping his lips pursed, Quinn nodded.

  She moved a little closer and whispered: “And you’re positively shining. I almost didn’t have to turn on the lights when I came in.”

  Quinn nodded again, still feeling incredibly self-conscious.

  “You’re not going to tell me about it, are you?”

  Quinn didn’t get to answer, because she put her arms around him and squeezed him so tight he ended up between her ample bosoms. She then held him at arm's length to give him the once over.

  “You don’t need to tell me the details, honey. I hope you liked his present, though?”

  Quinn realized she looked like an overjoyed mother. “He got me a new coat. Well, a semi-new one. But it’s nice and toasty.” At least the fact that Camille knew about the present explained how Haden managed to sneak it into his room.

  “About time we turned your old one into rags. So how do you feel?”

  Quinn swallowed away his emotions. “I think he loves me.”

  “You think?” She snorted. “Honey. I know. Have you talked at all?”

  Chuckling, Quinn nodded again. It seemed all he was really capable of. “We talked,” he admitted. “He has lots of plans, apparently.”

  “And you?”

  “I can see myself in those plans.”

  Now it was Camille’s turn to beam. “Meaning you see a future for the two of you?”

  “We’ll take it one day at a time.”

  At that moment, Haden walked in and Quinn saw his stunned expression as Camille pulled him into one of her tight hugs as well. After releasing him, she put one hand on Haden’s arm and another on Quinn’s and looked at both of them in turn. She didn’t speak, just squeezed them and then walked out toward the dining room.

  “Was that Camille at a loss for words?” Haden asked.

  “I think it was,” Quinn agreed. “She said I was beaming.”

  Haden pulled him closer and gave him a lingering kiss. “You are.”

  The noise outside the kitchen started to pick up as more residents woke up and they heard excited sounds coming from the children.

  “Time to play Santa Claus, you think?”

  Quinn kissed Haden back. One day at a time, and Christmas wasn’t over yet.

  Got Mistletoe Madness?

  The Dreamspinner Press 2009 Advent Calendar is available at http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com.

  About the Author

  Zahra Owens was born in Europe just before Woodstock and the moon landing and was given a much less pronounceable name by her non-English-speaking parents. Being an Aquarian meant she would never quite conform, and people learned to expect the unexpected.

  She started writing fairy tales in first grade; the same year she came into contact with her first group of English-speaking friends, a group which would eventually grow to include people from all over the world. On the outside she was a typical only child, accustomed to being with adults most of the time. On the inside, she sought ways to channel her wild imagination.

  During the daytime she earns a living as a computer specialist, but it’s her former career as an intensive care nurse that tends to seep into her fiction. Maybe this has to do with her weak spot for flawed characters and imperfect bodies, or maybe it’s just her sadistic streak coming through. You be the judge.

  Visit her web site at http://www.zahraowens.com/ and blog at http://zahra-owens.livejournal.com/.

  Copyright

  Charity Starts at Home ©Copyright Zahra Owens, 2009

  Published by

  Dreamspinner Press

  4760 Preston Road

  Suite 244-149

  Frisco, TX 75034

  http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Cover Design by Catt Ford

  This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of International Copyright Law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines and/or imprisonment. This eBook cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this eBook can be shared or reproduced without the express permission of the publisher. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press at: 4760 Preston Road, Suite 244-149, Frisco, TX 75034 http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/

  Released in the United States of America

  December 2009

  eBook Edition

  eBook ISBN: 978-1-61581-332-2

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