V: The V in Vigilant

by Snyder, J. M.

  The dog obeyed immediately, tail thumping between Matt’s feet as she sat beside Roger’s chair. Matt gave her lead another tug. “Sure,” he muttered. “Undermine my authority.”

  The moment he tried to pull her back, the dog leapt at Roger again, front paws in his lap as she licked at his hand. Petting the top of her head, Roger assured him, “It’s cool. She’s real nice. What kind of dog is she?”

  Matt laughed. Giving up, he sank into the nearest seat and let Sadie enjoy Roger’s affection. “A hundred percent pure mutt. And rotten to the core. You should see the way Vic spoils her.”

  With a surprised laugh, Vic closed the bus door and pulled back into the flow of traffic. “Yeah, blame me.”

  In the mirror above his seat, he saw Matt give him a look of such unadulterated love that it made him grin. ::What’s with the shades?:: Matt wanted to know. ::You look hot. Are those mine?::

  ::Both the glasses and the freaky power they’re hiding,:: Vic assured him. ::Super dilated pupils. Haven’t been able to see shit all day.::

  ::That’s not a superpower,:: Matt told him. ::That’s a side effect.::

  Vic grunted. ::What, you fucked me so good I can’t see straight?::

  Matt grinned, glancing at the dog to play it off. He didn’t have to worry, though—Roger was too busy with Sadie to pay the two men any attention. With her face cradled in both hands, he had his nose to hers, making the same silly baby-talk sounds Matt made whenever he played with the dog. Vic didn’t understand it. No wonder she was spoiled.

  Stretching out in his seat, Matt waited until Vic glanced in the mirror again, then ran a hand up his thigh and over his crotch. He pressed down on the slight bulge there, and a moan of desire filled Vic’s mind. ::We’ll be home soon,:: Matt said, adjusting the front of his jeans. ::I’ll kiss and make it all better then.::

  Through their mental connection Vic could feel that hand on his own cock. He couldn’t wait.

  * * * *

  When Matt had thought about meeting up with Vic to ride home with his lover, he never anticipated there might be other passengers on the bus. Vic usually complained about his last hour being pretty dead, so seeing the guy in the wheelchair had thrown Matt for a loop. Sadie seemed to like him, though. Twice Matt had to yell at her to get down when she tried climbing into the fellow’s lap, and she now sat by his right leg, her head on his thigh, eyes closed in pure bliss as he scratched behind her ears. With his arms spread out across the back of his seat, Matt watched her soak up the attention and wondered just how much longer it’d be until they were alone.

  He didn’t have to wait long to find out. The next stop turned out to be Roger’s—as Vic pulled over to the curb, he told them, “End of the line. Your sister here waiting for you, Roger?”

  The guy in the wheelchair turned to peer out the window at the darkness beyond. Night had settled in, pressing against the bus as if trying to get in. “Nah, I doubt it. On a nice evening like this?”

  He guided his chair into the aisle, but Vic didn’t open the door. In the mirror above Vic’s seat, Matt could see the frown on his lover’s face. “How far do you have to go? I can probably drop you off…”

  “It’s cool.” Roger gave Sadie one last pat as he waited for Vic to let him out. “I just live on the other side of the park. Really, it’s nothing. I do it every day, twice a day.”

  Still, Vic hesitated, and Matt felt his heart swell in his chest at the concern lacing his lover’s voice. “Man, I mean, if it isn’t far—”

  “Vic, I got it.” With a tight grin over his shoulder at Matt, he patted Vic’s hand where it rested on the door handle. “Thanks, but you go on home. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

  Reluctantly, Vic opened the door and engaged the wheelchair lift. Once Roger rolled onto it, he raised a hand in farewell to Matt. “Nice meeting you. I like your dog.”

  “She likes you,” Matt said with a laugh. “Have a good evening.”

  Once Roger was gone and Vic was back on the road, Matt ventured, “He seems nice.”

  Vic looked into the side view mirror as if he could see Roger through the night. Given his current superpower, Matt thought he probably could. “Some people you just want to watch out for, you know what I mean?”

  A small twinge of jealousy shot through Matt but he squelched it before it raged out of control. Still, his voice sounded strange to his own ears when he asked, “Do you usually take him home on the days his sister isn’t waiting for him?”

  Vic glanced up in the mirror sharply. With the sunglasses hiding his eyes, his features were unreadable. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Matt shrugged. “Nothing, babe. It’s been a long day.”

  A slow grin crept across Vic’s face. “Shit,” he drawled. “I’m practically a married man now. I just got engaged last night.”

  Matt’s laugh lightened the mood between them. “So I hear. Roxie wants to be my best man, did I tell you?”

  “God.” Vic shook his head.

  Though Matt couldn’t see his lover’s eyes, he knew Vic had to be rolling them in exasperation. “Maybe she can give you away instead,” he teased.

  Vic’s response was quick. “Oh, hell no!”

  Matt only laughed harder. “That’s what she said.”

  The ride back to the bus terminal reminded Matt of his first evening with Vic. They first met at the gym, true, but Matt had been dating a coworker of Vic’s at the time and, as interested as he was in the brawny bodybuilder, he couldn’t pursue a relationship until Kyle was out of the picture. Matt had known from the moment he started going out with Kyle that he wasn’t “the one”—the guy was great to hang out with and hilariously funny, even if he did annoy the fuck out of Vic. But he kept pushing Matt to consummate their relationship and, given Matt’s propensity to bestow superhuman powers onto his lovers through sex, Matt wasn’t eager to see Kyle take advantage of that. But when he learned that Vic had been asking Kyle about him, Matt thought he’d take a chance. Something about Vic appealed to him from the start—he always claimed it was Vic’s strength that attracted him and yes, that played a big part in his initial interest, but there was something else there, something deeper, a glimpse of the tender man beneath the rugged exterior whom Matt wanted to get to know. Through Kyle, Matt knew Vic drove the city bus. Once Kyle was out of the picture, Matt spent an inordinate amount of time riding the various bus routes in the hopes of hooking up with the strongman he’d seen only once before—lifting weights at the gym.

  It was an evening such as this when Matt climbed aboard Vic’s bus, wearing the very same sunglasses Vic now wore himself. Matt rode in the back seat that time, waiting until all the fares had exited before approaching Vic about perhaps getting together once his shift was over. And now, look just how far they’d come…

  The interstate faded away as Vic took an exit south of the river, heading for the bus terminal. The road turned dark, a flat stretch lit only by the moon above, but it was a familiar path for Vic, who drove it twice a day. As he approached the gate to the city garage, he shifted into a lower gear and opened the small window beside his seat. Flashing his ID at the guard on duty, Vic eased the lumbering bus into the gravel-strewn lot.

  Matt waited until Vic had parked before he asked, ::Want to get a coffee afterward?:: He spoke directly his lover’s head, disturbing Vic’s brooding thoughts. When Vic glanced up into the mirror to look his way, Matt grinned. ::Remember the last time we went back to the bus depot together?::

  Vic smiled at the memory, then bent to scribble his arrival time on his daily log. Aloud, he admitted, “I was so sure I’d get you into bed that night.”

  “Some things are worth waiting for,” Matt joked.

  “You were,” Vic said softly. “Love you.”

  Stretching to stand, Matt let Sadie’s leash drop to the floor beside where she lay and walked down the aisle toward the driver’s seat. He held onto the bars framing the end of the aisle and bent down to plant a wet kiss on the
top of Vic’s bald head. “Love you, too. Take me home, big boy. That bed of yours is waiting.”

  In one fluid motion, Vic rose and turned, catching Matt around the waist and hugging him close. Vic’s lips brushed over Matt’s, across his jaw, along his throat, to find the tender spot behind his ear that always turned him on when Vic nuzzled against it. “Hmm,” Matt murmured, savoring his lover’s strong arms around him. “Who needs a bed? Bend over.”

  Vic laughed, his breath ticklish along Matt’s neck. “I’m still on the clock,” he pointed out. “I don’t get paid to get fucked.”

  “How do you get that job?” Matt wanted to know, but he let Vic lead him from the bus. Outside, halogen lights threw back the night as their shoes crunched on the gravel. When Matt whistled for Sadie, the dog jumped down the bus steps and barreled straight into Vic’s legs, eager to be included in their loving. Grabbing her tail playfully, Matt wagged it from side to side and cooed, “Who’s a good dog? Who’s been so good today?”

  Excited, Sadie turned and barked, the sound loud and sharp in the darkness. When Matt reached into his pocket for the treats he’d bought at the pet store earlier, she shoved her nose after his hand, tongue licking out for a treat. Vic watched, amused. “Who spoils her again?”

  “Hush,” Matt admonished as he rubbed the dog’s ears. “You’re just jealous. Don’t worry, lover. You’ll get your treat soon enough.”

  Shaking his head, Vic tossed Matt his keychain. “Wait in the car, will you? Let me clock out. I’ll meet you there in a few minutes.”

  He turned and headed for the depot, Sadie eagerly trailing behind. Matt raced after her to catch the end of her leash. “Come on, girl,” he said, pulling at her lead. “He’ll be right back. Come on.”

  At the far end of the bus lot, an unlocked door led to the employee parking area. On the gravel Sadie sniffed and snuffled around the buses but once on the pavement, she raced ahead, eager to run on the flat surface. There were only a handful of cars this late, and the wide open space called her to run. Matt gave her as much lead as he could, but she still dragged him along after her. Together they ran through the lot, Matt laughing as he chased after the dog. “Stop!” he cried, then, “Sadie!” But as usual, she didn’t listen to him.

  Vic’s battered Toyota sat near the front gate. The moment Sadie caught a whiff of Vic’s scent, she stopped in mid-flight and turned so sharply, Matt almost stumbled. Without prompting, the dog bounded up to Vic’s car, rising on her hind legs to scratch at the passenger side door. “All right already,” Matt said with a laugh. It took a try or two, but he finally managed to fumble Vic’s key into the lock. “Wait up, will you? God. If you ever scratched up my car like this…”

  He let the thought trail off because, quite, honestly, what would he do? Nothing, and he knew it.

  Opening the door, he unlocked the one behind it but he needn’t have bothered—Sadie leapt into the passenger seat and scrambled into the back to stretch out on the seat. Matt gave her a stern look through the window, but she just woofed softly and panted at him as she tried to calm down. “You’re lucky I love you, silly,” Matt announced, sinking into the passenger seat and closing the door beside him. Then he reached back to rub Sadie’s soft belly and wait for Vic.

  * * * *

  Usually when Vic got off from work, he hurried home to Matt. But with his lover beside him in the car, there seemed to be no real rush to get back to their apartment. The moment Vic got behind the wheel, Matt’s hand found a comfortable spot high up on Vic’s thigh, and as they drove, that hand inched closer to the bulge in the front of Vic’s work pants. By the time they were on the interstate, Matt had Vic’s zipper down, his fingers strumming stiffening flesh, and Vic found it hard to keep his foot on the gas. His mind kept wandering to the delicious things Matt was doing to his cock—fingernails gently scraping along his length, palm kneading his erection, thumb tickling over the bulbous tip of his dick. The car’s speedometer dipped below the posted limit and Vic goosed the gas, surging ahead, but he couldn’t concentrate on the road. He didn’t want to. All he wanted was to savor the sensations flooding him at Matt’s touch.

  As he retraced his earlier route along the interstate, now heading home, he saw the sign for Bryan Park and had a thought so sudden, he swerved to make the turnoff. Beside him, Matt laughed as his hand squeezed Vic’s dick. “This isn’t the right exit.”

  “Change of plans,” Vic told him. “I’m just not going to make it all the way back to the apartment with you doing that.”

  Another laugh. Matt sounded anything but sincere when he said, “Sorry.”

  But when he began to extract his hand from the front of Vic’s pants, Vic caught his wrist and held him in place. “I didn’t say stop. We just have to find someplace dark and quiet.”

  “Parking lot?” Matt asked. As they came to a stop at the light on Lakeside, he pointed to the well-lit lot outside a nearby Shriner’s Temple across the street.

  Vic knew the spot well—the bus stop there was where he usually picked up Roger in the mornings. But tonight he shook his head as he eyed the bright halogen lights. “Too lit up. I’m thinking something a little more private…”

  He turned right onto Lakeside and nodded at the dark wooded area known as Bryan Park—the same area where Matt had spent the afternoon with Sadie. The park was home to the lake that gave the Lakeside section of Richmond its name, and paths for walking or biking wound around the waterfront and along streams that branched off into the woods. There were also tennis courts and a soccer field that was usually open to the public, but at this hour, those fields were dark, deserted. Vic knew—he doused his headlights the moment he entered the park and peered into the darkness, his night vision still going strong. The soccer field was empty, and from the lack of cars in the small lot beside the lake, Vic guessed the tennis court was, as well. He couldn’t see it through the stand of evergreens that shielded the court from view, but the lights weren’t on. It had to be clear.

  Pulling into one of the parking spots with a good view of the lake, he cut the engine and stared out at the still, inky water for a moment. The night around them wasn’t exactly silent, but there were no crickets chirping, no annoying cicadas calling to each other, no birds rustling about in the trees. Somewhere he heard drunken laughter followed by an angry shout, but the wind changed direction and he couldn’t make out the words. As Matt usually had to remind him, other people’s affairs didn’t concern him, superpowers or no. He couldn’t save the world…

  “Earth to Vic.” Matt shifted in the passenger seat and tugged on Vic’s cock, eliciting a gasp of delight from his lover. The button on Vic’s work pants popped open and his zipper eased the rest of the way down as Matt finally withdrew the hard erection that had grown uncomfortable in the tight confines of Vic’s underwear. Leaning across the gearshift that separated them, Matt breathed into Vic’s ear, a hot rush that warmed Vic down to his toes. Massaging the thick length in his hand, Matt murmured, “This is going to be cramped.”

  “Don’t care.” Reaching down, Vic found the seat release and pushed back to give himself more room. He moved past Matt only to find Sadie’s wet nose now pressed to his ear. In a stern voice, he commanded, “Sadie, lay down!”

  The dog obeyed, setting her head in her paws as she stretched across the back seat of the car. The last thing Vic wanted was to be disturbed. Matt’s hand was firm on his dick, the pressure maddening, and when Vic slid down a bit in his seat, Matt leaned over to touch his lips to the tip of Vic’s swollen cock, humming faintly. The tune vibrated through Vic and he thrust up into his lover’s mouth, one hand curving around the back of Matt’s neck to hold him down—

  “Leave me the fuck alone!”

  Vic jerked upright, gripping Matt’s neck. “Did you hear that?”

  Matt licked down Vic’s length and up again, tongue twirling a moment around the flared head of Vic’s cock, before he let his lover slip from between his lips. “Hear what?”

  It had b
een a man’s voice—Vic had heard it clearly when the wind shifted direction but it was gone now. He rolled down his window and listened, trying to ignore Matt’s insistent fondling and the spit cooling on his dick. Even with his extended vision, he could see no one nearby—the soccer field was devoid of life, the lake as calm as a mirror reflecting the moon above, the trees still. After a moment, when the voice didn’t come again, Vic shook his head. He ran a hand through Matt’s curls, smoothing them down. “Nothing. I thought—”

  A man’s angry shout interrupted him, tinged with fear. “No, no!”

  In an instant, Vic was out of the car, tucking himself back into his pants and zipping them up. Matt clambered out beside him, glancing around nervously. “Vic, who…”

  Vic nodded at a dark shape skirting the back of his car. “Matt, the dog.”

  When Matt had opened his door, Sadie jumped out. Now he chased her down, catching the end of her leash before she could go too far. Once he had her in hand, he came up close beside Vic as if seeking comfort just by being near him. His voice was a ragged whisper, his eyes wide. “Vic, who was that?”

  “I don’t know.” Suddenly the sunglasses were a hindrance; Vic snatched them off and foisted them onto Matt. Peering into the night, though, he still didn’t see anyone nearby. Then he closed his eyes and focused inward instead, letting his mind open like a net, spreading over the immediate area, searching for someone in need…

  “NO!”

  Like a compass, his mind whirled toward the sound and pointed out the direction. The tennis courts, hidden by the trees. Vic sensed three people, and he dove in deeper, seeking more information. Two of them were muddled, the thoughts crazed, slurred…drunk, Vic thought, abandoning them. The third held anger and fear, and Vic’s stomach sickened as he recognized Roger, the wheelchair-bound ex-soldier from his route. His voice was the one Vic heard. He needed help.

  Unclipping his cell phone from its holster on his belt, Vic shoved it into Matt’s hands. “Call the police,” he instructed. “Call Kendra, okay? Tell her two drunk assholes are assaulting a disabled man over at the tennis courts. Tell her to get here quick, because when I get through with them—”