Crashing the Net (15 page)

He turned and dropped to his elbows on the bed. “Prepare me.”

For the span of a few heartbeats, there was not a single movement from behind him, not even so much as the mattress shifting. Alexei wasn’t entirely certain Michael was still breathing. Then long, warm thighs slid between his, spreading his knees wider, and a single finger traced down the ticklish crease of his ass.

He gripped the sheets in his hands, refusing to squirm, and resorted to what came naturally. Giving orders.

“Hurry!”

Lube poured over his hole, caught up on fingers and rubbed into his skin. He’d thought he would let Mike take his time. He changed his mind.

“Put a finger in me. Now.”

The stretch was good. Michael’s groan relaxed Alexei more than anything his clever fingers were doing.

“A second.”

A fleeting moment of burn passed quickly and Alexei gripped the bedding tighter. His cock bounced against his belly with every thrust. He bit the sheet between his teeth when Mike’s fingers spread, scissoring wide.

They had played like this. Many times. But rarely did it go much farther before Alexei was throwing Mike to the bed and returning the favor, tenfold.

“Another.”

For the first time, Michael hesitated, only for a second, but Alexei appreciated it when the third finger slid in and the burn returned, more intense this time. Tension coiled in Alexei’s belly as Michael slowly worked the tight muscles.

The moment they eased, Alexei demanded more. “Harder.
Faster!
”

Soon he could hear Michael panting behind him. Feel how he unraveled through his grip on Alexei’s hip and his gasps of pleasure.

Goddamn, Alexei couldn’t wait another minute. He needed this. The stretch. The touch. This man inside him.

“Now, Michael. Do it now.”

Mike stared down at Alexei’s beautiful, round butt, and thought his heart might explode right out of his chest. He had all the permission he would ever need or get.

But he didn’t want to do it like this.

As a rule—a rule he thoroughly enjoyed and thanked god for every day—he didn’t call the shots when it came to sex. He had no illusions that just because their positions were reversed physically, they were also changed in any way mentally or emotionally. Or he sure as hell hoped not.

But just this once, he would make a request.

Leaning in, he whispered into his demanding lover’s ear. “Turn over?”

Alexei turned his head, their noses almost brushing, and studied his face. Saw god only knew what in his eyes. Then rolled onto his back.

Mike’s fingers slipped free.

“Thank you,” he said softly, staring down at Alexei spread out before him. He clenched his hands into fists, trying to steady them. It was useless. They still shook.

“Come here, Michael.”

As always, the lilt of Alexei’s accent threading through his name sent chills down Mike’s back. And soothed him.

Mike crawled over Alexei, their chests brushing, and stared down at the most beautiful face he’d ever seen. Alexei kissed him, drawing out their pleasure, replacing Mike’s nerves with, if not calm, then a steadiness only Alexei could give him.

Alexei’s knees came up to hug his ribs. “Go ahead, Michael.”

He pushed forward and met more resistance than he anticipated. Maybe he hadn’t prepared Alexei enough?

Alexei traced his thumb over the bumps between Mike’s eyebrows. “Relax. It’s just been a long time.”

Mike stared into Alexei’s steady green gaze, and rocked his hips forward. The head of his cock squeezed past taut muscles before locking into unbelievable heat.

His mouth fell open, and for a long moment, all sound strangled off in his throat.

“Holy shit. You’re so hot. So
tight,
” he gasped when he finally had the ability to speak.

Alexei laughed. “Maybe you’re just big.”

Then he kissed Mike again. Long and hard. His firm grip on Mike’s hips dragged him forward, further into heaven. Mike’s eyes nearly crossed at the exquisite heat clenching his cock.

Soon he was working his hips in gentle circles, going deeper each time, their kisses becoming frantic as he picked up speed. Alexei’s hands guided him, told him when to move, when he needed to stop, what worked, how hard.

It left Mike with nothing to do but
feel.
The tight grip of Alexei’s body. The mind-numbing friction. He shuddered each time he thrust harder. Farther. When he hit Alexei’s sweet spot, strong arms clung to him, holding him close.

Their kisses were endless. Madness. Mike could barely breathe, his pants escaping from their lips as their tongues warred and his body buzzed with each new sensation.

He was making love to Alexei.

He tore his mouth away with a hoarse gasp. The flood of oxygen only made him dizzier, happier, and the truth spilled from him, falling from his lips in time to his increasingly powerful and frantic thrusts.

“I love you. God, I love you. So fucking much.”

Alexei looked up at Michael, his words winding through Alexei’s head and heart, and taking root. He felt the same. Had the words to give back, but didn’t think his lover, his friend, could hear them now.

Mike trembled against Alexei, his face flushed, his eyes wide and glassy. He was lost. Beautiful. Barely holding on.

Alexei was no better. The pure happiness of Michael’s words worked magic in his brain. The sizzle and shock of Michael’s long, thick cock thrusting into him, nailing his prostate time and again, its own joy. One Alexei had forgotten he could feel.

If they’d been at home, he might have been shouting as loud and long as Michael ever had. As it was, his throat burned with choked-off cries and declarations.

He framed Mike’s face in his hands, caught his soft brown gaze, and set him free.

“Come now, Michael,” he whispered in a hoarse voice, the words no more than passing his lips before his own climax roared up and out him, coating his and Michael’s chests.

Sore, well-used muscles clamped down around Michael’s shaft as he slammed home and sobbed against Alexei’s neck. His hips jerked, his body quaking so hard that Alexei had to hold on tighter, wrapping his arms and legs around him as best he could.

Mike still lay sprawled across Alexei’s chest an hour later, practically humming from the feel of Alexei’s fingers running through the hair at the nape of his neck. Once again, they’d made a complete mess of their bed, but fortunately, somewhere in this hotel, there was a second room with Alexei’s name on it. They hadn’t slept apart since their first night together, but they hadn’t exactly shared with management that they could save on lodging costs either.

A loud knock on the door jolted Mike out of his silent musings.

“
Mike? Are you in there? We’ve been trying to call.”
His father’s muffled voice carried through the door.

Mike could feel the blood draining from his face.

“Mike?” Alexei whispered as he sat up, forcing Mike to do the same.

Mike blinked and looked at him. Frozen in place.

Another series of knocks rattled the door.

Mike didn’t know what to do.

“Come on,” Alexei said quietly, towing Mike from the bed. “Get dressed.”

Right. Dressed. He moved silently, yanking on whatever clothes Alexei threw at him. Alexei quickly did the same, then scooped the condom wrappers from the floor and tossed the covers up over the bed. He went to the windows, only to discover they were bolted shut.

Fuck.

Alexei stood looking uncertainly at him, waiting for Mike to decide what to do. Could they pretend they weren’t here? Wait for his parents to go away?

He could feel the color return to his face, cheeks hot, when he pictured cowering here for who knew how long. Making Alexei cower with him.

Fuck that
. He straightened his shoulders, and surveyed the room. Then Alexei. He even looked down at himself. If there was a way to make it all presentable—which seemed unlikely—there was no getting around the fact that they, and the room, reeked of sex.

Which, actually, was fine. This was his life. He didn’t regret a single decision that had led him to this place. To Alexei. And for once in his fucking life, he was going to
own it
.

He went to the door, pausing with his hand on the knob. He looked back at Alexei. “You okay with this?”

Alexei studied his face for a moment, then nodded. “I’m okay.”

Mike smiled grimly, then opened the door.

Expecting to see only his father, Mike couldn’t decide if it was better or worse that his entire family stood in the hallway. Maybe it didn’t matter either way.

“You better come in,” Mike said calmly.

They filed into the room and hovered by the closet while Mike closed the door behind them. He slid past his family and went to stand beside Alexei.

Jayne looked confused to the length of time it took her to examine his face, his rumpled clothes and wild hair, and to give Alexei the same once over. Then a bright smile split her face and she went to Alexei’s other side to face their parents—neither of whom seemed to know where to look.

Mike had thought about this moment a lot over the past few years, but now that it had arrived, he felt remarkably calm.

“Mom, Dad, this is Alexei,” Mike said.

His father finally looked at him. “Your boss?” he asked hopefully, no doubt grasping for an explanation for why Alexei was here.

“He was,” Mike replied easily. “Now he’s my boyfriend.”

For a long time, no one said anything. Mike was actually pretty okay with that. He was enjoying a quiet moment of absolute fucking relief.

I did it.
He’d come out to his parents, and while he suspected he’d once again botched it pretty badly, what with the trashed bed and the faint smell of latex and lube still in the air, he’d
done
it.

“I don’t understand,” his mother said at last.

Jayne huffed with obvious exasperation but something about their mother’s expression, the way her eyes darted around the room, held his attention.

“Yes, you do. You understand perfectly,” he said with growing horror.

Mike studied his parent’s faces, their reactions, and the lingering dread in his gut burned away, replaced by a hot rush of anger. His parents were nervous. Dismayed. But neither looked even a little bit surprised.

“Oh my god,” Mike said softly, “
you knew
.”

His father opened his mouth, probably to deny it, but Mike threw up a hand and shook his head. As if he could somehow ward off his parents’ betrayal. All those woman they’d thrown at him. The endless talk about marriages and babies. And they’d known.

How could any parents do that to their child? How could
his
parents do that to
him
?

Alexei pressed a hand to his back and Mike leaned against it. Taking the comfort and warmth it offered while Jayne stared at their parents, speechless. Alexei just looked up at Mike helplessly.

He turned back to his mother. “You made me fucking miserable. Do you realize that? Is that what you wanted?”

“No! Of course not. We didn’t
know
anything,” his mother said, but when Mike just stared at her, she looked away.

Mike father sighed. “We thought you’d get over it.”

“
You thought I’d
get over it?”
Mike asked incredulously, trying to figure out where his parents had spent the last decade.

Alexei curled his hand in the back of Mike’s shirt. Maybe he was as pissed off as Mike. Or maybe he was afraid Mike would bodily eject his parents from the hotel room. It
was
a really tempting thought.

“We thought that if we didn’t encourage you, you’d let it go,” Mike’s father continued, apparently unaware he was a fucking idiot. “That you could change.”

“I don’t want to change!” Mike shouted, not even caring if the guys in the rooms around him heard. “I’m gay! I’ve always been gay. And what’s more, I wouldn’t change a goddamn thing if I could.”

“Don’t say that, Michael,” his mother cried. “It’s not—”

“It is! I seriously don’t even want to know what you were about to say. This.
Is.
It’s real and permanent and actually”—he put his hand out and Alexei immediately grasped it—“it’s kind of great. Really great. You should be happy for me, Mom, because I’m happy. This is what I want. And that’s all you should want for me.”

They clearly didn’t understand. Mike almost pitied them, but couldn’t in light of what he’d learned.

He didn’t owe them anything anymore.

”You know what? I think you should go.”

“Go where?” his mother asked, and she seemed genuinely lost. His father looked equal parts confused and furious.

“Go home, Mom. Both of you. Think about it for a while, I guess. Figure out what you really believe. Whether you want to have me in your lives, exactly as I am. You know where to reach me if you do.”

His mother blinked, her hand curled around the cross around her neck as she looked up at him. “But who will take care of you?”

“I can take care of myself,” Mike said. It felt good knowing it was true.

“But Mike, everyone needs someone else to care about them. That’s all we ever wanted for you. For you to have someone to love and who loves you.”

“He has that already,” Alexei said.

The pride and affection on Alexei’s face took Mike’s breath away. His heart galloped in his chest. “Really?”

Alexei smiled. “Yes, Michael. Of course, I love you.”

Mike grinned. “Good. Because I love you, too.”

“Okay, folks, I think that’s our cue to leave,” Jayne announced, skirting where Mike and Alexei still stood beaming at each other stupidly and herding their parents out the door. When their father opened their mouth to say something, Jayne cut him off. “You had your chance, Dad, and you blew it. Now you have to go home and think about your sad choices. Seriously. You know where to find Mike, but he asked you to leave, and frankly, I’m not going to let you do anything but respect that.”

Their mother tried to admonish Jayne but her voice was cut off when Jayne closed the door in her face. Jayne turned back to Mike and Alexei.