by Alexa Land
“You did?”
“Yup.”
“So, you think we’re ready for that next step?”
When I said, “Definitely,” he dove at me and knocked me onto my back, and I started laughing again.
After stripping off what little we were wearing, we explored each other with our lips and tongues and hands, until we were both achingly hard. Then he told me he wanted to bottom, and I dumped way too much lube into the palm of my hand before massaging his opening.
Working him open was a slow process. I jerked him off at the same time, and it was so gratifying to watch his entire body respond. When Ari decided he was ready, he climbed on top of me, lubed my cock, and began to lower himself onto it. My tip pressed against his hole, and for a few moments, the fit seemed impossible.
But then he drew a sharp breath as my cock slipped inside him. He held still for a few moments, and after his body had a chance to adjust, he started riding me slowly. I could see it in his eyes when discomfort gave way to pleasure.
Once I knew he was okay, I was able to relax and enjoy myself. It felt wonderful, better than I’d ever imagined. But even with all that sensation pulsing through my body, I remained focused on Ari.
As he began to ride me faster, he laced his fingers with mine and braced himself against my hands. He was glorious, wild and breathtaking as he chased his climax and mine. His lips were parted, his skin flushed, and when he met my gaze, our connection was astonishingly intense.
My orgasm started to build, and I braced myself against the mattress and thrust up into him. A yell tore from me as I came. My body bucked and shuddered, and I shot into him again and again. He rode me right through to the end of it.
I was shaking by the time it was over, but there was one more thing I needed to do. With my cock still deep in his ass, I jerked him off, and soon he threw his head back and moaned as he came on my stomach.
Then we fell against the pillows, and as soon as I caught my breath, I asked, “Are you okay?”
He smiled at me as he said, “I’m fantastic.” His expression was one of pure bliss. I was sure mine matched it.
We napped for a while, after cleaning up in the outdoor shower. By the time we awoke, we were famished, so we got dressed and went into the sleek, white kitchen. After a quick lunch of cheese sandwiches, fruit, and chips (and after we fed Fig) Ari asked me, “Do you feel like doing some writing?”
“Because you’d like a chance to draw?”
He grinned and said, “Yes, exactly.”
“That sounds wonderful.”
I retrieved a pen and notebook while he went and found his sketchbooks and a fistful of assorted pencils, and then we both settled in on the pale gray couch. Ari went to work right away, and I ended up watching him, because he absolutely fascinated me. He tucked a strand of hair behind his ear and rested one bare foot on top of the other as he held the pad of paper in the crook of his arm. Working quickly with bold, confident strokes, he produced a sketch in just a few minutes. Then he held it out and assessed what he’d drawn.
When I asked if I could see it, he turned the pad toward me, revealing a beautifully rendered drawing of the house and its surroundings. I told him, “It’s absolutely remarkable.” That was especially true because he’d managed to reproduce it perfectly from memory.
“Thanks.” He added a few finishing touches before flipping the page and starting another sketch.
“Do you mind if I take a look at your other drawings?”
“Go right ahead.”
I traded my blank notebook for one of the sketchbooks on the coffee table. When I lifted the cover, I discovered a photorealistic drawing of me, reading a book while sitting in front of the fireplace in my room. On the next page, I came face-to-face with myself in a close-up portrait, and on the page after that, he’d drawn Fig and me leaning against each other on the couch in the family room.
When I glanced at Ari, he was watching me, and he said softly, “Time is so fleeting. I want to remember everything, not just the big moments, but the quiet, little ones, too. I think there’s so much beauty in everyday life, and I want to hold on to all of it forever, every precious, irreplaceable moment.”
It really was no wonder that I’d fallen hard for him. I set aside the sketchbook and we shifted around, so I was leaning against the arm of the couch, and he was sitting between my legs and resting on me. He started drawing again, and I watched over his shoulder as another scene came to life. This time, he drew me in the car on the long road through the desert.
When he completed it, he studied the page as he said, “I’ve lost a lot of people over the course of my life. After a while, I stopped letting anyone in, because I couldn’t stand the thought of losing them too and going through that kind of pain again. But you’re the exception, Griffin. The way things developed between us took me by surprise, but I want you to know I’m all in with this.”
I buried my face in his silky hair and whispered, “So am I.”
In the late afternoon, Ari found a field guide on the shelves in the living room, and he took it along as we went for a walk. He was absolutely adorkable as he flipped the pages and randomly announced things like, “Oh look, a bushtit!”
“What’s that?”
“The bird over there.” He indicated a totally unremarkable brown ball of feathers, and then he said, “Or maybe it’s a titmouse. No, I think I was right the first time. It’s a bushtit.”
We climbed over the top of the hill, then circled back around to the house while Ari looked up the name of every plant and animal, no matter how small. It was so quiet. There were no other houses, no cars, no people, just miles of hills and open desert as far as the eye could see.
Once we were back where we’d started, he turned his attention to the firepit while I went inside and made dinner. When I took Fig his usual chicken and rice, I said, “It’s really nice out. Why don’t you join us on the patio?” He just nodded toward the TV before wolfing his food.
Dinner was fairly simple. I made quesadillas and served them with tortilla chips, homemade guacamole, and margaritas. Ari seemed to think it was something special and raved about the food. We ate beside the blazing firepit, and when we were just about done with the meal, he exclaimed in a stage whisper, “Griffin, look at that!”
I followed his gaze and spotted a pair of small, brown owls with long, skinny legs, about ten feet from the edge of the patio. As I set aside my plate, I whispered, “They look like cartoon characters.”
“They do! They’re burrowing owls, I read about them in the guidebook. I didn’t think we’d be lucky enough to see any.” After a pause, he added, “I bet they’re a gay couple.”
“What are you basing that on?”
“Wishful thinking, mostly.”
I grinned and told him, “I’m on board with that.”
We watched the gay owls for several minutes as they picked their way across the rocks and soil on those comically long legs. Whenever one would lag behind, the other would wait for it, which we both thought was very sweet. Once they wandered off, I said, “I almost forgot, I brought you a present. Wait here.”
I carried our plates inside, and then I went out to the car and took two black cases from the trunk, which I’d hidden under a blanket. On my return trip past the kitchen, I grabbed the pitcher of margaritas, and when I rejoined Ari, I said, “Could you grab the case that’s under my arm?”
He took it from me and blurted, “You bought me a ukulele?”
“Actually, I’m giving you mine. This other instrument belonged to Aunt Roz, and I’m going to start using that one.”
“Wait, so you actually know how to play?”
“Oh yeah. I was raised by a musical prodigy, so Roz taught me to play the piano, guitar, ukulele, violin, cello, and harp. Please don’t ever make me demonstrate that last one. There’s literally no way to seem suave while playing a harp.”
Ari’s dimples came out in full force, and he leapt up and threw his arms around me
as he exclaimed, “Thank you so much!”
“You’re welcome. You seemed to like them at my birthday party, so I thought we should put these to use.”
We worked on tuning them for a few minutes, and then I rested my sneakers on the edge of the round, cement firepit and asked, “What should we play?”
“Oh, I think you know.”
I grinned at him and said, “On three,” and counted it down. Right on cue, we both began playing Shake It Off, and then we burst out laughing.
The sky turned orange and eventually gave way to a purple twilight as we worked our way through a few more pop songs, then moved on to classic rock. After a while, we started a game of ‘name that tune’ by taking turns playing songs for each other. It was ridiculously fun, and Ari kept making me laugh with his song choices and over-the-top showmanship.
Finally, when the fire had burned down to nothing but glowing embers, we returned the ukuleles to their cases, and then he took my hand and led me to the outdoor bed. We curled up under the soft, fluffy blanket, and Ari wrapped himself around me and put his head on my chest.
As we looked up at the night sky with its riot of stars, I whispered, “This was the best day of my entire life.”
Chapter Eight
Life at the house in the desert was pure bliss. Our days were spent either naked and thoroughly enjoying each other, or relaxing by reading, writing, and drawing. Each night, we slept under the stars, and every morning we awoke wrapped up in each other.
Of course, there was still something important that needed my attention, so every day I went off by myself after breakfast. Ari thought I wanted time to meditate. I let him believe that.
After climbing over the top of the hill so I was out of sight of the house, I would settle in on a ledge among the boulders. Tiny lizards kept me company as I spent twenty minutes or so pulling up glowing spheres of energy and dissipating them.
While August’s hourglass theory certainly wasn’t forgotten, I was feeling optimistic about my approaching birthday. With my new way of venting excess energy, I wasn’t really feeling that buildup anymore. Maybe that meant I’d be able to handle whatever happened on Monday, when I turned twenty-five.
On Sunday evening, I sat on the patio with a notebook while Ari worked on my birthday cake. He was trying to keep it a surprise, which meant I was banned from the kitchen.
The decision to set aside my tortured first novel had been a good one, and I was three chapters into an upbeat gay romance. It was the perfect thing to work on, given how light and happy I’d been feeling. At the moment though, the pages on my lap were forgotten, because Mother Nature was putting on one hell of a show. We’d enjoyed spectacular sunsets every night for the past week, and somehow this one was even prettier. The sky was vivid orange, shot through with pink, and it reminded me of something Ari would paint.
I called to him, and he and Fig came outside a few moments later. My boyfriend was dusted in flour, there was blue frosting on his cheek, and his hair was gathered into a messy ponytail. He sat on the arm of my chair, and I rubbed his back as I explained, “I didn’t want you to miss this sunset.”
“Thanks for calling me.”
“How’s the cake doing?”
“Hard to say. It looks good, but it might taste awful.”
I set aside my notebook, and as he climbed onto my lap, I said, “I’m sure it’ll be great.”
“I appreciate your optimism.”
I grinned at him and brushed a strand of hair out of his eyes as I asked, “How much do you have left to do?”
“It’s all done. I finished about a minute before you called me. It’s on the top shelf of the refrigerator, under a big bowl. Don’t peek.”
“I won’t look, but I do need to sample the frosting.” I tipped him back and licked his cheek, and he started laughing. Then I tilted him upright again and said, “It’s delicious, just like I knew it would be.” The dog exhaled loudly, got up, and went back inside. I called after him, “You can stay out here, Fig! We’re not going to do anything.” I frowned as the door swung shut behind him.
“Then again, maybe we are.” Ari teased me with a flirtatious grin. “I really need to get cleaned up. Want to help me?”
“Uh, yeah.”
We stripped quickly, and once the water warmed up, we both stepped into the wood-lined outdoor shower. We’d been enjoying it all week, and Ari said, “I’m completely spoiled now. How am I ever going to go back to showering indoors, without an epic view and a warm desert breeze?”
“No idea. I do know this, though—we’re definitely coming back here.”
As he removed the elastic band and tipped his head back to wet his hair, I dispensed some body wash into my palm and rubbed my hands together. Then I went to work washing him. I ran my hands over his collar bones and down each arm in turn. After going back for more liquid soap, I slid my palms over his ribcage and stomach, then his sharp hipbones, before soaping up his cock and balls. It was so gratifying to see and hear him respond to my touch.
I knelt before him and washed one of his legs. He steadied himself with a hand on my shoulder and raised his foot for me, and I washed it before repeating the process with his other leg. Then I stood up and grinned at him as I made a circular motion with my finger. He grinned too and turned around for me.
After I massaged his shoulders and washed his back, I cupped his gorgeous little butt. When he pushed his ass into my palms, I slid a soapy hand around him and began to stoke his cock. At the same time, I ran a finger up and down his crack and rubbed his hole.
He whispered, “Take me, Griffin,” and my entire body responded. I rubbed my cock against his ass, then dried my hands and reached for the bottle of lube we kept in the shower.
I jerked him off while I worked him open, and then I ran a lube-covered hand over my cock before pushing into him. Ari widened his stance and braced his hands against the teak shower wall, and we fucked hard and fast as the warm water ran over our skin.
He came first, driving himself onto me as he moaned and his cock twitched in my hand. Moments later, I came in him as I wrapped my arm around his chest and held on tight. I kissed his shoulder, and he nuzzled me as we caught our breath. Then I took a minute to clean us up again before shutting off the water and wrapping him in a bath sheet.
As I rubbed his hair with a corner of the towel, I whispered, “You mean the world to me. I just want you to know that.”
He stretched up and kissed me before saying, “Right back at you.”
It was considerably cooler now that the sun had set, and when he shivered, I hurried to find him something to wear. I selected a long-sleeved, thermal Henley and a pair of plaid flannel pajama pants, both in shades of light blue because I knew he liked to match. After I put on a T-shirt and briefs, we both climbed into that big, comfortable bed and watched the stars come out.
Ari snuggled against my side, and as I hugged him, I felt a pang of guilt. It wasn’t right that I was keeping secrets from him. I’d told myself I was going to wait until things felt solid between us before telling him I was a warlock. Everything certainly felt rock-solid right now, but I still hesitated.
I just kept thinking, what if he reacted badly? We were out in the middle of the desert, and he didn’t have a way to leave if he got scared and wanted to get away from me. And okay, maybe I was stalling for time. We’d had a perfect week together, and I hated the idea of throwing it off.
But he had a right to know the truth, and I resolved to tell him everything as soon as we got back to L.A. It was time.
When I awoke a few hours later, my heart was racing, I’d broken out in a cold sweat, and that all too familiar feeling of pressure building inside me was more intense than ever before.
Oh no.
I slipped out of bed and hurried inside, closing the door behind me as quietly as possible. If Ari woke up and started asking questions, I had no idea what I’d tell him. There wasn’t much time for explanations either, not at the rate the pressur
e was building.
As I pulled on a pair of jeans and stuck my feet in my sneakers, I glanced at a clock on the wall. It was 11:44. What the hell was going to happen in sixteen minutes, when it clicked over to my birthday?
Fig rushed into the living room, and I told him, “I need to get away from the house so I can vent this excess energy. If I don’t come back, there’s a letter for Ari in the outside pocket of my suitcase. Please make sure he sees it. It’s my goodbye to him, and it also asks him to take care of you.” I grabbed my car keys, then crouched down and gave my dog a hug. “I love you, Fig. Thank you for being my best friend, all my life.”
As I raced to the front door, he ran after me. I fought back the lump in my throat as I said, “No Fig, you have to stay here. It’s not safe. Please take care of yourself, and take care of Ari for me.” He looked so distraught as I closed the door and left him there, and that broke my heart.
There was no way around the fact that starting the car was probably going to wake my boyfriend. As soon as the big engine roared to life, I threw it in gear, then went barreling down the dirt road. At the base of the hill, I made a wild turn onto the road we’d come in on and headed away from the highway. My only thought was to get as far away from the house as possible.
What would Ari think when he woke up and found me gone? If only I’d had the time to leave a cheerful little note that said ‘be right back’—although right now, that felt like a lie.
As I sped down the cracked asphalt road, I started to panic. The pressure in my body was horrible. It was probably equivalent to what it must feel like if your heart and lungs suddenly quadrupled in size and pressed painfully against your ribcage.
After a few minutes, I spotted a smaller dirt road branching off to my right and turned onto it. It was in even worse condition than the road I’d been traveling on. In fact, the ruts were so deep that after just a minute, I threw the car in park, got out, and started running.