Gemini (16 page)

I sit and stare at the ceiling, waiting for him to say something. And I'm thinking it's really none of his business.

"Both?" he asks, real quiet.

"Yep." I don't look at him, just the ceiling.

"Since when?"

"The beginning."

I can hear his chair creak as he shifts. "Nine months or more. Now you've marked him for you both."

"Yep."

Fred doesn't say anything for a while and then he sighs.

"Guess I better get to know the man. Got a feeling a lot of thought went into this."

"Did." I know I'm being an ass to him, and I hate that, but I can't seem to stop. This is fucking scary shit, you know?

Almost worse than coming out to my dad.

"Fuck, Gent. Doesn't it get confusing? Loving them both?

Loving twins, for Christ's sake?"

Now I do look at him. "No. They're mine. I'm theirs. All there is to it."

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Gemini

by Chris Owen

Fred just shakes his head. "You are so gone, man. Gotta hand it to you, you hid it well. Thought Paul was it for you, never thought there would be anyone else in your life. Ever."

"There won't be. We're ... three. That's all." I look him in the eye. "Hurts to hide Jamie, though. Can't let anyone know, for obvious reasons. Makes me insane sometimes."

Fred nods. "Yeah, I can imagine. Bet it hurts him too. And you've just committed to a lifetime of that, Gent."

"Committed to more than that."

"Yeah. I know. Now, get out of here and tell your man to keep that tat dry until it's healed over. And Gent?"

"Yeah?"

"Fucking nice job. It's gorgeous."

I grin at him. "Yeah. It's perfect."

And it is.

* * * *

I hear them whisper "happy birthday" to each other and then Paul shifts a bit, kisses my jaw until I turn my head enough that he can kiss me. Feather-light kisses across my lips and then Jamie kisses me the same way. "Happy birthday, Gent."

"Happy birthday, baby." I sigh happily and squirm down in the bed, smiling.

"Shit," Jamie groans. Not what I was expecting to hear.

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"What, love?"

"It's late. No time for breakfast, no time for playing, barely enough time to shower." He rolls over and gets out of bed, heading for the bathroom.

I look at the clock. Nine o'clock. Paul's already late, and Jamie's only got half an hour to get to the store. "Damn it."

Paul kisses me again and gets up, grabbing clothes and throwing them on. "I gotta go. Fuck, I'm sorry, Gent. Listen, supper tonight—I'll call you and tell you where we've got reservations, meet us there." He kisses me again and he's gone. I hear him call an "I love you" out and I guess it doesn't matter if it's for Jamie or me. He loves us both.

When Jamie's showered and gone I get up and call the jeweler. Paul's present is ready, so I pick it up on my way to work. Fred tells me Paul called and hands me the address of the restaurant, says it's okay if I take off right after my last scheduled client so I can get there on time. Sort of a birthday present.

As it is I get there after the boys and when I get to the table, they've already started on the bottle of wine. I sit down and we all sort of grin at each other.

We chat for a couple of minutes about our day, and then there's a hand on my leg, moving up to my lap real fast. I look at Paul and wink, then sort of get lost in his eyes. Can hardly see any green at all. God, he's about to go off right here and no one's even doing anything. I raise an eyebrow and slip my hand into his lap under the tablecloth. Not only is he hard, but Jamie's hand is already there, teasing him.

"Let's go," I say. "Order pizza or something."

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They don't even say anything, just stand up and head for the door, pulling their coats around them as they go. I apologize to the maitre d' and give him a twenty. When I get outside we all pile into the back seat of a cab and tell the driver to step on it.

Not sure how we make it home fully clothed, but we do.

Actually, by the time we get home Paul seems calmer, and we just sort of wander into the living room and take off our jackets and stand there for a minute, looking at each other.

I can't believe how much I love them. They're kind and smart and giving and warm, and I'm stunned by the sheer and utter beauty of them every fucking day. My boys. And one of them even has my name on him.

I'm not sure who moves first. Maybe it's me, maybe it's them together. It doesn't matter. All that matters is that we're together now, arms around each other, three mouths kissing and tasting and giving, low moans and sounds of love in my ears and the flavors of them together on my tongue.

Heaven.

We kiss like that until we are breathless and then we just stand there a moment longer, foreheads together.

"Happy birthday," I whisper. They answer me with soft kisses.

Paul finally pulls us all out of it, his eyes glittering.

"Presents!"

Jamie looks at me and I nod, go back to get my coat.

When I turn around, the slim box in my hand, Jamie looks at Paul and says, "Let's do this in the bedroom. Get naked, lay back and be happy?"

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Paul blinks, then he smiles slowly and puts his hand to Jamie's back. "Examine all the presents real close?"

Jamie grins and heads to the bedroom, Paul and me close behind him.

I set the box on the nightstand and watch as Paul unbuttons Jamie's shirt. So pretty together. I remember I need to get the small pliers from the toolbox in the kitchen and head out of the room. They're naked and waiting for me when I get back, standing in front of the full-length mirror.

Jamie is standing behind Paul, arms around his twin's waist, and Paul's leaning back on him. I can see Jamie's tattoo and Paul's piercings. Time to make our claim on Paul. I set the pliers down next to the bed and take off my clothes.

By the time I'm done my boys are moving to the bed and we all sort of stretch out, lying on our stomachs. My leg is tangled with Jamie's and I put a hand over his tattoo as I kiss him.

"Ready, pretty?"

"For ages now." I kiss Paul and reach out for the box, set it down in front of him. "Happy birthday, baby."

Paul kisses me and then Jamie. He looks at the box and rips the paper off with eager fingers, but stops before he opens it. I nod at him, and then Jamie nudges him with an elbow. "Come on, baby. Not gonna hurt."

He lifts the lid and I swear he gasps. Jamie just stares.

He'd seen the sketches, but not the chain. It's fine gold, thick enough not to snap, big enough to play with, but not heavy enough to bother him. And in the center is an interlocking 'J'

and 'G'.

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Paul picks it up and fingers it for a second and flips over on his back. "Put it on, now, please!"

I laugh and reach for the pliers and open the rings on the ends of the chain. I lace his nipple rings through them and carefully squeeze them closed, then give the chain a gentle tug, making him gasp again.

He smiles at us, eyes dilating, his cock filling between his legs. "Jamie, get Gent's. Want to play."

Jamie kisses him and reaches for the chain, brushing his fingers over Paul's nipple as his hand moves. "Yeah. Want to play, too."

He gets off the bed and goes to the dresser while I kiss Paul, reveling in the soft noises he's already making. Jamie comes back and curls up against my side, pushing into our kiss for a moment before placing a box on my chest. I look at it, surprised.

I don't know why, but I never even thought about what they might get me. I guess I was too wrapped up in the tattoo and arranging for the chain. In any case, seeing the tiny box makes my breath come faster, makes my chest ache. I'm almost afraid to open it.

There's a bow on top so I stick it on Paul's head, making him laugh. They both sit up and watch me as I take the paper off, and I glance at them when I see the jeweler's name on the cardboard box. They look back, happy and hopeful, and I smile as I lift the lid. There's another box in the cardboard one, a small leather covered box with a hinged lid that creaks a little when I open it.

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They gave me their father's ring. And where there had been a faded ivy leaf, there's now an elegantly carved "G".

I'm not sure how long I stare at it before I look up at them, but when I look I think I'm never going to be able to look away. Green eyes meet mine with an intensity I haven't seen before.

"Ours."

"Yours."

Jamie takes the box from me. My hands are shaking as Paul slips the ring on the third finger of my left hand.

Taken.

Paul laces his fingers with mine, and Jamie's twist around our clasped hands. I'm trying to blink away tears when one of them kisses me, and everything dissolves into love and passion and need; everything in the world swept away except them and me.

Forever.

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Chapter Sixteen

It's Saturday night and I'm really happy to finally be home.

I swear, if I have to ink any more daggers with serpents wrapped around them on any more smelly guys with beer guts I'll puke. But then, at least I'm back to working almost full time at the parlor and off the beer-pulling gig. That was worse. Usually.

It wasn't a good night. Lots of clients, but they were all either half drunk and ugly 'cause we wouldn't do their work, getting crap from the wall done, or trolling. I didn't help myself much either. One guy kicked a fuss 'cause I don't have ink on my arms or anywhere else he could see.

"How come you don't have tattoos? How can you be good at what you do without experiencing it?" he asked.

I skipped the whole bit about how someone can be very good at doing something like this without actually getting it done and just answered the first question. "I do. I've got two, they're just hidden."

"Ugly?"

"Fuck, no. They'd blow your mind, but they aren't in a spot I show off to just anyone." As soon as I say it I know he's gonna demand to see them. And he does.

"I want to see them."

"No."

"Why not?"

I was ready to just let the guy go. Don't want to work on someone like that, my tats are none of his business, you know? But Fred was in the room and he was kind of laughing.

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He knows where they are, though he's only seen one of them.

Hell, he did that one for me.

I rolled my eyes. "Because I'm not gonna fucking drop my pants for you. Now, you want to do this or not?"

Guy sulked, but he settled back and let me draw the dragon he wanted on his biceps. He didn't say anything until I was done.

"Why the hell would you get a tattoo on your ass?"

Fred laughed. "He didn't."

Guy looked at me and blinked. "Fuck. That had to hurt."

I just nodded and took his money.

So when I get home I'm grumpy and tired and just want to curl up on the couch with my boys and watch TV. Or maybe we can watch TV in bed. I'm easy.

They're in the living room when I get home, and I can tell something's up. Well, two somethings, but I'll skip the details,

'cept to say that they're at least fully clothed, just making out like they're almost ready to move on to the getting naked part.

I stand there and watch for a couple of minutes. My boys are just so amazing together. Paul's on top of Jamie, and that's a treat to watch—Paul's not usually that aggressive with him. I think that in the whole year and a bit we've been together I've only seen Paul do Jamie about a dozen times.

But Paul's wild tonight, kissing Jamie hard before moving to suck on his neck, hands on Jamie's hips to pull him in hard while he grinds against him. Fucking hot.

Jamie groans and arches his back, stretching out under Paul's weight. His eyes flutter open and he sees me. He gives 153

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me a slow grin and moves against Paul, making Paul moan in this needy, breathless way that sends a jolt to my cock. Yeah, I'm hard already, getting off on watching my boys.

"Gent's home, Paul. Time to start the party."

Paul moans into his neck.

"Looks like you've already started," I say with a grin.

Jamie rolls his eyes and tries to get Paul off him. He finally just pushes him onto the floor. "Nah, just getting him warmed up."

I look at Paul, sprawled on the floor. His eyes are dark, his lips red and swollen. His hard-on is easy to see in his tight jeans. "Looks warm," I say, and Jamie snickers as he sits up on the couch.

"Yeah. Boy's on fire tonight. Real hungry."

Paul doesn't say anything, just gets on all fours and crawls over to me, then sits back on his heels and reaches for my fly. I look down at him, get lost in those green eyes and just stand there while he undoes my pants and eases my cock out. His tongue flicks out and licks me, then his hands are on my hips, holding me tight while he sucks me in.

"Christ. Oh baby, that's nice." I watch him for a second and then look at Jamie. He's sitting on the couch, frozen, watching. I can see the muscles on his shoulders twitch.

"What got into him? Not that I'm complaining." I moan softly and look back down at Paul as I feel his teeth scrape lightly on the up stroke.

I can hear Jamie's zipper. "He got a promotion. Wants to celebrate."

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Paul moves a hand to my balls and I thrust into his mouth a little. He starts to suck hard, and I can feel his fingers teasing me, his tongue driving me fucking crazy.

"We can ... oh God ... we can do that."

Then I can't say anything as Paul takes me in all the way.