Ten

by Tia Fielding

  Makai had never felt desire like this. He remembered—although vaguely—how it had been with his girlfriend back in the day. It had never been like this. Not in a way that made his whole body burn slowly and steadily.

  Emil wrapped his fingers around Makai’s cock and gave it a few strokes. He looked from the dick in his hand to Makai’s face and smiled a little. “I think I won’t have much problem with this,” he said quietly. “I mean, it’s different and it’s… I can see you like it.” Then he blushed. “And it is turning me on, too, so….”

  Makai chuckled, then moaned when Emil licked the precome off his cock.

  Immediately, it was obvious that Emil really liked what he was doing. The way he bobbed his head and worked his tongue along Makai’s cock, and the humming sounds he made occasionally and how his eyes fluttered… yeah, seeing and feeling all that made Makai let go and relax. He didn’t have to worry about Emil right then because Emil was okay, enjoying himself, and that was the thought that pushed Makai right to the edge.

  “Oh fuck, coming,” he managed to utter as warning, and then his back arched, and he started to come, whole body twitching a little with the strongest orgasm he’d had in… well, too long.

  He panted through the aftershocks and only then noticed Emil hadn’t moved away when he came. It also explained the hasty way Emil got off the bed and went to spit in the sink. Makai could hear the water run and Emil splash around, probably washing his face.

  When he came back, he looked flushed. “A bit overwhelming,” he admitted as he got onto the bed and curled up next to Makai. They were both still naked but calmer, so the cats gradually migrated from wherever they’d been to the bed to be with them.

  “Ow, claws, little dude!” Emil reached behind himself to lift Xander between him and Makai. “I guess it’s our fault for not getting under the covers, but I draw the line at claws on my butt.”

  Makai chuckled. The chill Emil had felt postshower was obviously gone, and they were both too warm to cover up yet.

  “Maybe we need underwear. I’m afraid my dangly bits might attract too much attention.”

  “You didn’t mind my attention, though,” Emil snarked and went to get them boxer briefs from the dresser.

  “Har-har. The cat isn’t going to blow me,” Makai deadpanned.

  “Well, I fucking hope not!” Emil feigned outrage, and they both burst out laughing.

  Chapter Fourteen

  A MONTH after Alice Kane had visited them, the final version of the story appeared on the website she worked for. Makai had gone through two drafts and then made sure the final one was also good for Emil, before giving her the okay to publish it.

  Alice’s story was a sympathetic piece about a guy who moved into a small town to start over and found things he hadn’t thought he might. For one, it wasn’t a hero story, really. Just like Makai had wanted it to, it told his story without sensationalizing anything, and Emil was happy with it.

  Currently, Makai was in the shed finishing reassembling the last of the chairs he was fixing for Leah and Stuart. Emil sat on a bench on the dock, with a fishing rod in hand, while Mouse and her shadow, Spike, patiently waited nearby.

  When the first kitten, Xander, had moved to Lotte and Joie’s, Mouse hadn’t been too upset. But then another family in town had wanted Buffy and Willow both, and after they were gone, Mouse got antsy. She looked for her babies for a day or so, and Spike started to cling to her more than before.

  In the end, they’d decided that Spike would stay. The fluffy, light orange boy was the perfect addition to their household. Mouse seemed happy, and Spike kept her on her toes just the right amount without being a total pest.

  The family that adopted the two girls had junior high–aged kids who were Buffy fans. The kittens already had an Instagram account, and the youngest son kept emailing Emil with every little update.

  Mouse and Spike had collars with their information on them, but neither of them wandered far. It seemed like Mouse had made her home there, and besides, everyone in town knew their cats by now and would know to call them if they saw the cats in the wrong place.

  It wasn’t completely safe, of course, letting them roam outside without supervision every day, but they always came when called, and they were never let out alone for more than an hour or two. Both Makai and Emil felt like the cats had to be inside if they even went to get groceries from town.

  The bobber moved, and Mouse let out a plaintive little meow. Emil reacted more to her than the bobber and managed to pull it up just in time before the fish escaped. Spike meowed, too, and the sound was almost joyful. Something about it tickled Emil’s funny bone, and he held the line and cackled while the cats sneaked closer.

  “What are you doing?” Makai asked from midway down the path. He looked amused, and Emil couldn’t blame him.

  “Fishing,” Emil hiccupped out the word.

  “And you two are helping Daddy, right?” Makai stepped onto the dock and went to pet the cats. Spike meowed at him, while Mouse was trying to telepathically make Emil give her the fish. “How many do you have?”

  “This is the fifth. I was just going to take them all to the kitchen, boil them for the kids.”

  “Sounds good, as long as you remember to open the window first this time,” Makai teased him.

  “It was one time, Makai.” The smell of fish had lingered for days, though, so maybe Makai had a point.

  Emil took the fish off the hook expertly, then used the small club he had next to the bucket to kill it. He secured the fishing line and bobber and handed the whole rod to Makai. “Can you take that?”

  “Sure.”

  They walked up, dodging the cats who were constantly reminding them to get a move on already. Makai stashed the rod in the shed and came inside after Emil and the cats.

  Once the fish were in a pot on the stove and the window was open, Emil washed his hands and plopped on the couch. He opened his laptop and went through his email, which was mostly spam and news about Buffy and Willow.

  Makai came to sit with him. “I need to check my email. I haven’t done that today.” He hadn’t put his email on his cell because he rarely got emails anyway, so he started up his own laptop, and they sat there side by side, just like the cats were doing on the kitchen floor as they waited for their food to be ready.

  “Hey, I have something from Alice,” Makai said, and Emil turned to look at him.

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah, let’s see….” Emil looked back at his own screen, giving Makai privacy, but looked back when Makai gasped. “Kaos has contacted her.”

  “What?”

  “She has his contact information here. He just asked her to forward it to me, basically. Wow….” Makai sounded torn.

  Emil leaned closer to him without looking at the email, just offering his silent support for now.

  “I think I’m gonna call him,” Makai said finally, and the look he gave Emil was cautiously optimistic and even happy.

  Emil caught on to how much Makai had missed his friend and nodded. “Yeah, that’s a good idea. Do you wanna do it now? Have me leave the room for privacy.”

  “Yeah, before I lose my nerve. But can you stay?”

  “Sure. I’ll be right here.”

  Makai put the number into his phone and took in a deep breath. Then he moved the laptop onto the coffee table and pressed Call.

  “Hey, it’s Makai,” he started when the call was answered. “Yeah, I got your info from Alice.”

  Emil listened to Makai’s side of the conversation and leaned back on his shoulder when Makai’s breath hitched.

  “I missed you too, man. Sorry I was such a jackass.” Makai wiped a tear off his cheek and took hold of Emil’s hand for extra support.

  They sat like that, Makai talking with Kaos, for a long time. Emil made sure the fish got fed to the cats, who were more than happy about his catch, and then went back to sit with Makai. Emil just listened, his own laptop forgotten beside him on the couch.


  “Yeah, his name is Emil. He’s the sheriff’s son,” Makai said, then chuckled deeply. “Yeah, I thought so too. But he’s… he’s great. The greatest thing that ever happened to me. How about you, seeing anyone?”

  The one-sided conversation flowed around Emil, and he reacted to it all with smiles or chuckles and the occasional squeeze of Makai’s hand when the subject was heavier.

  “Oh?” Makai said, and the almost doze Emil was in evaporated at his tone. “I would have to ask Emil. Can you give me a minute? Okay.” Makai pressed the phone against his chest and looked at Emil. “Kaos needs a place for a while. Do you think he could couch surf here for a few days, at least until he finds something else?”

  “Yeah, absolutely, he’s your brother, isn’t he?” Emil asked, and for a moment Makai looked stunned, but then he lowered his head, kissing Emil firmly on the lips.

  “I love you,” he stated simply, then put the phone back to his ear. “Emil says yes. I can text you the address. Yeah, whenever you’re ready, head our way. Okay. Yeah, talk to you soon, man. Bye.”

  “I love you too,” Emil told Makai after he’d texted the address to Kaos. “I know you don’t have much of a family, but what you have, it’s mine too, right? Just like mine is yours.”

  Makai leaned in to kiss him again. “Yeah, exactly.” If his voice was a bit husky with emotion, neither of them commented on it.

  EMIL’S MOTHER’S birthday party—just for the family—came before Kaos made it to Acker. Emil had made that calendar for her, and Makai decided to make her a cutting board. The end result was perfect for her kitchen, which Emil had sneakily measured for optimal size for the board one day, and he couldn’t wait to see her expression when they gave the presents to her.

  There were other presents, of course, from her friends and a few people in town who liked her a lot, and she’d opened them earlier that day. There were also a lot of flowers in the house when they got to his parents’.

  “I didn’t even know you had this many vases!” he said, kissing his mom on the cheek.

  “I put some in mason jars, but don’t tell anyone!” She smiled and hugged him close. Then she turned her attention to Makai and hugged him too. “Don’t you look handsome!”

  Makai did, indeed, look handsome in his neat new jeans and white button-down he’d rolled the sleeves of. The scars of the surgery had messed up some of his tattoos, but neither of them cared, because he could use the arm again.

  “Thank you, Nora, you look lovely yourself. Happy Birthday.” Makai kissed her cheek, and she blushed lightly at the compliment. She did look nice in her summery dress, Emil admitted.

  “Who is hitting on my wife?” Dad rumbled from the living room.

  Emil rolled his eyes and called back, “Eww, Dad, you’re talking about my mother and my partner here.”

  A pleasant chuckle drew them all into the living room where Dad sat in his armchair by a small end table Makai had made them just because he could. A vase sat on the table, placed carefully on top of a small table cloth, and it was filled with sunflowers, Mom’s favorites.

  “I have to say, I don’t think you have anything to worry about, not after getting her those.” Makai smirked at Dad and went to sit on the couch.

  Emil sighed, resigned to his fate, and held out the bag they had for Mom’s presents. “Here, before these two can say any more things that mildly disturb me, open your presents!” He sat next to Makai, and Mom took the other end.

  “Two presents?” she asked, clearly delighted. She started with Emil’s present, the calendar of kitten photos and a blown-up framed one of Mouse and Spike sleeping on the couch together. “Oh, Emil, these are wonderful!” Her eyes teared, and he knew he’d done well. Even if the calendar was Dad’s idea, originally. He looked at Dad and grinned at him and got one back in response.

  “The other one is from Makai,” Emil said when she got the heavier present out of the bag.

  She opened it quickly, as if she couldn’t help herself, which made them all smile. When she pulled out the herringbone-patterned cutting board, she placed it on her lap, then lifted a hand to her mouth. “Oh, Makai, it’s lovely!” she gasped. Then she promptly hugged him and reached past Emil to pull him into the awkward sitting hug too.

  THEY HAD dinner, and after dessert, Dad winked at Emil, who sneakily went outside to get his guitar from the truck while Makai helped Mom clear the table to keep her distracted.

  When Mom and Makai came to the living room, Emil sat on the couch, with Dad nervously shuffling back and forth across the small space of their living room.

  “What’s going on?” Mom asked, clearly surprised. “Are you playing again?” She looked so hopeful it broke Emil’s heart a little, but at least he could give her the good news.

  “Yeah, for a while now. I’ve been getting better, and Dad happened by one day I was practicing. That’s the reason he knows.”

  “Uh, Nora, I wanted to do on more thing for your birthday, so, here goes,” Dad said, clearing his throat.

  Makai sat on the couch, and Dad took Mom’s hands and led her to sit in his armchair. Then he turned to look at Emil and nodded.

  Emil started to strum Mom’s favorite song, “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Elvis Presley.

  She sat there while Dad knelt by the chair, still holding on to her hands. When Dad started to sing the song, her tears started to flow freely.

  As he played, Emil enjoyed Dad’s shaky but beautiful baritone. Emil and Makai looked at each other, ignoring the romantic, touching gesture happening across the small room. It felt almost too intimate for them to be there, but Emil was the guitar player in the scenario, so he would just have to deal.

  Makai smiled at him, and Emil offered one back even as he harmonized with his dad quietly. Once the song was over, he pointedly ignored the sound of his parents kissing and grimaced, making Makai laugh.

  “Okay, I think that’s our cue to get going,” Makai said, and Dad looked sheepish while Mom blushed all the way to her neck.

  “Thank you so much, honey. This was such a lovely present!” Mom came to hug Emil, and he handed the guitar to Makai.

  They said bye and drove home, smiling still.

  WHEN THEY got home, Makai fed the cats, and Emil gathered his courage. They decided to shower separately to conserve hot water—they’d ended up in a cold shower a couple more times before they’d learned—and finally, while Makai was in the shower, Emil decided to just go for it.

  He moved the cats into the living room and got the evil eye from both of them, but they settled on the couch instead of trying to come back. He then grabbed the guitar and sat on the bed in his underwear. He felt like he wanted to stay with Makai forever. That this was the beginning of that, right here, tonight. But he couldn’t really say the words like that; something inside him didn’t want them to come out.

  So instead, he’d play Makai a song and hope he would understand. He felt oddly nervous, waiting for Makai to come from the shower. It all evaporated when Makai stood there by the bed, looking curious because of the guitar and the obviously closed bedroom door.

  “I want to sing you a song,” Emil said before he could ask. “I… I think it says something I… can’t.”

  Makai smiled and sat on the bed. “Okay.”

  Emil started to strum the guitar like he had at his parents’ house. But this time, the song was City and Colour’s “Northern Wind.” It wasn’t a typical love song, but he knew Makai would pick out the parts that mattered.

  Makai’s attention was fixed on him as he played and sang, but it didn’t feel wrong or awkward. Instead, the gentle smile and the slowly gathering heat in Makai’s gaze was welcome, like a caress, almost.

  Once the song’s last note drifted into silence, Emil stilled the strings and put the guitar on the floor by the bed. Then he turned to Makai.

  “I love you too,” Makai just said, and lay back to pull Emil against him.

  They made out lazily, in a bubble of love and happin
ess and ease that Emil had never thought he’d have. Never thought he could have. Suddenly, the words came to him, and he pulled away enough to look at Makai.

  “You know, it might have been ten days for me to change everything, and ten years for you, but from now on, I’ll be hard-pressed to spend ten hours away from you.”

  Makai looked at him, then pulled him into a kiss that curled his toes and went from zero to hundred in no time. The way they were touching each other was life affirming in a way Emil hadn’t known they still needed. It felt like they were sealing some unknown deal.

  Makai rolled them over and slotted himself between Emil’s thighs. They were both wearing underwear, but it did nothing to hide the state they were in, not that it mattered anyway.

  “Will you make love to me?” Emil asked, feeling the need to do this tonight all the way to his bones.

  Makai looked at him, searching his gaze for something, then nodded. “Okay. Old rules apply.”

  Emil nodded. Old rules meant saying no meant no and stop meant stop, and either of them could say the words. Even though they knew each other now, it still felt good that they always checked in with each other when they were doing anything sexual.

  Makai took off their underwear and went to take out the lube they had bought together a while ago. It wasn’t like they’d needed it for anything other than some fun, slippery frottage, but they’d known the day would come when they’d need it for more.

  “No condoms?” Makai made sure.

  “No, I know we have some if we change our minds, but I don’t… I just want you.” Right now. Preferably forever. Emil was pretty sure his expression was telling Makai exactly what he was thinking, based on the fond smile.

  “Okay.”

  Makai was thorough and ever so gentle when he made sure Emil’s body was ready. Makai had once told him that being big all over wasn’t necessarily a good thing. Emil had told him there was nothing wrong with being proportionate all over and gotten a swat on his ass for that.