by Ward Maia
They walked the streets and Sam cataloged the Christmas decorations. It wasn’t anything fancy. Some paper Santa Clauses hung here and there. Christmas lights adorned some trees.
The houses had more Christmas decorations than the street. They passed a house with fake plastic reindeer in the front yard. Sam noticed that one of the reindeer was missing an antler.
Sam wasn’t entirely surprised when he found himself walking down the mostly deserted beach with James. “Thank you, for inviting us. I know my family can be a bit overwhelming sometimes.”
“I like them,” James said. Sam glanced over to find James smiling softly, his gaze fixed on the dark ocean. “But I thought you were spending Christmas alone.”
“Yeah, they decided to surprise me. My mother says it’s to help me acclimate to living in a new country. Personally, I think my aunt and sister teamed up and bribed her and my dad into having a tropical Christmas so they could bake under the sun.” Sam chuckled, images of his day spent on the beach with his family filling his heart with fondness.
“No one should spend Christmas alone,” James said, his voice low and smooth.
“You and my family share that belief.” Sam copied James and turned his gaze to the rolling waves he could barely make out under the moonlight. He always liked the ocean. Even at night. It was a little scary, but something that large and overwhelming ought to be.
“I like them. I like you too,” James said so quietly, Sam wasn’t sure he was supposed to have heard him.
But he did and couldn’t pretend otherwise. He snapped his head to stare at James. But the other man was still gazing out at the ocean, as if he hadn’t just shifted Sam’s entire world with a handful of words.
“Um…,” Sam said, not knowing what else to say.
James turned to him then. Even in the low light, the soft way James scanned his face was visible, lingering on Sam’s lips before rising to his eyes.
“I-I like you too,” Sam said quietly, gaze never leaving James’s face.
The space between them was charged, fueled by the way James admired Sam. Like he was something he wanted. Someone he had been searching for a long time and was relieved to have finally, finally found.
But it was probably just Sam’s wishful thinking. James was probably just horny and liked the way Sam filled his clothes. As improbable as that might also be.
Then James closed the distance between them, pushing him gently until his back met solid resistance and Sam didn’t really think about anything.
Sam blinked to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. But the bark of the coconut tree digging into his back made it pretty obvious he was fully awake. The warm hard body pressed against his, as James nosed his way up Sam’s neck, was also a dead giveaway.
“I’ve wanted to do this for a long time,” James said close to his hair, his hot breath against Sam’s neck making him shiver. James pressed his body impossibly closer to Sam’s, trapping all of the small reactions his touch elicited and keeping them just between the two of them.
“Y-you have?” Sam managed to ask.
“Yes. I said I liked you, remember?” James traced his words with his lips and Sam was too slow to swallow the whimper that escaped him.
“I-I thought you m-meant as a person. Like, I’m a nice person. And you like that. Me, like that.” Sam was babbling; he was fully aware of that.
But having James, tall and confident, sweet and considerate, pushing him against a tree made it very difficult to form coherent sentences.
“No.” James chuckled softly. “I like you. As in I like to look at you and I want to kiss you.” James pulled back and looked at him.
Sam met his eyes and swallowed, his dry throat making it difficult. He wanted to ask why. Why did James like him? Out of all the people he could undoubtedly have, why would he be here with Sam, kissing his neck and making him a little crazy? But even Sam knew how pathetic that would sound. So he kept quiet and nodded slightly, trying to project confidence he didn’t have.
“Can I kiss you?” James asked, bumping his crooked nose against Sam’s, his breath ghosting over Sam’s lips.
Sam licked his lips in anticipation and tried to form the words, but his voice failed him. He felt embarrassed. He wanted to kiss James. He really wanted James to kiss him. So, since he seemed at least temporarily incapable of forming words, he nodded and swallowed again. Not that it did him much good.
James’s white teeth flashed as he smiled brightly. Sam expected him to just grab him and pull him into a kiss. But he didn’t. Instead, James curled one hand around Sam’s hip and the other one in his hair. His long, elegant fingers pulled at the strands, wreaking havoc on Sam’s already frayed nerves. Then he just looked at Sam.
Sam marveled at the way James’s brown eyes had darkened and were almost completely overtaken by the pupil.
“I like the way you look at me,” James murmured and then bit his lip as if embarrassed. As if he hadn’t meant to let the words escape him.
Sam blushed, his cheeks heating up. He tried to turn away and escape the embarrassing realization that he hadn’t been as discreet in his ogling of James as he would have liked.
But James’s fingers in his hair tugged his head back, making Sam gasp. Sam lifted his hands automatically to grasp James’s biceps.
Then he was being kissed. It was heated and rough enough to be almost painful. Sam tried to keep up with James’s hungry lips but soon gave up and relaxed, letting the other man take the lead.
Sam hummed as he traced James’s arms and then farther down his sides, settling on his hips. He curled his fingers in James’s waistband, tugging James forward so he could feel all of him.
James ground their hips together and Sam broke the kiss to let out a low groan as the sweet friction of his hardness pressed against Sam’s.
“Sam,” James murmured, trailing his lips down Sam’s neck as their hips rocked in a maddeningly slow rhythm that made Sam’s already overheated body catch fire.
He wanted more. So much more.
Loud laughter from somewhere behind him served as a reminder that they were out in public. Something he’d momentarily forgotten.
“We should stop,” Sam said, even if he wanted to do anything but.
James pulled back and looked at him, something akin to hurt and regret flashing in his eyes.
“Because we’re in public,” Sam added hastily.
Even if the beach around them was empty and they only had the sand and sea as their witness, he still felt too exposed to do anything out in the open. If they were actually going to do anything. He still wasn’t entirely convinced this was real.
James scanned his face and then smiled, seemingly satisfied with whatever he’d found. “Your place or mine?” James ground his hips against Sam’s teasingly.
Sam’s eyes fluttered closed as he swallowed, trying to force his mouth to work and answer James. “Yours,” he said after a minute, remembering his tiny apartment barely had a bed and a couch.
James nodded and kissed him again, licking into his mouth twice before pulling away and holding his hand out to Sam. Without hesitating, Sam took his hand and let himself be led away from the rolling waves and the soft sand.
They made their way back to the street and then to the crowd, still gathered around the dancing women. People cheered and Sam tried to discreetly adjust himself as they moved in between them. Sam blushed, sure everyone who looked at him could tell what he and James had been doing down at the beach. His blush only intensified when they found his parents laughing and clapping along to the songs.
“I think I’m going to call it a night,” Sam said loud enough for his mother to hear over the music and noisy conversations happening all around them.
She glanced between him and James, and then down at their still clasped hands. Sam felt the ridiculous urge to let go and step away from James. As if he were a teenager who had just been caught doing something wrong, instead of a grown man.
James, probably sensing
his nervousness, tightened his grip on Sam’s hand and moved closer to him, pressing his chest against Sam’s arm.
“Oh? Feeling a bit tired?” his mother asked, her tone teasing.
Sam forced himself to focus on her instead of the man pressed against him. He narrowed his eyes at her, but her grin just widened. She waggled her eyebrows and Sam shook his head, smiling.
“You’re as bad as Aunt Millie,” he told her as he leaned forward to give her a kiss on the cheek.
She batted his arm and then pushed him away gently. “Go on. We’ll see you tomorrow morning.” She grinned and then turned to say something to his father.
Sam waved goodbye to his sister and she smirked when she saw James pressed to his side, giving him two thumbs-up.
“Let’s go.” Sam blushed again and pulled James away from his family before they could embarrass him further. When they managed to make their way back to the street, Sam remembered he didn’t have a car. He also didn’t know where James lived. “Do you live far from here? We could share a cab.”
“My car is just down that street.” James pointed to a mostly empty side street.
Sam let James pull him along and soon found himself on the passenger side of a newish gray car, driving down streets that were already beginning to look familiar.
“Sam?” James asked, a hint of worry in his voice that let Sam know it wasn’t the first time he’d called him.
“Hm? Sorry, I might have drifted away for a bit,” Sam informed him.
“I could drop you off at home if you want.” James glanced away from the street briefly to look at Sam. “We don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to.”
Sam melted a bit into the seat. He’d honestly thought James couldn’t get more attractive. He was glad to be wrong. “No, that’s not it. I, um, I want you to take me home. To your home, I mean. I want… shit, sorry. I’m not very good at this.”
“Don’t worry. We have all night for you to tell me exactly what you want.” James’s voice had gotten a little husky and Sam squirmed in his seat. “You said you drifted away just now. Where did you go?”
“I was thinking about the city. And how these streets already seem familiar to me.” Sam turned to gaze out of the window.
“Do you regret the move?” James’s hands tightened slightly on the steering wheel.
Sam thought for a moment. Sure, his boss calling him into his office to tell him they were opening a branch in Brazil and that there was a spot for him there if he wanted it had been surprising. And maybe in the beginning he had regretted the move. He’d been tossed into a different culture practically overnight. Not even speaking the language had made the first days very difficult. He’d also expected to spend the holidays by himself, feeling lonely and miserable in his small, sparsely furnished apartment.
But after the initial shock, he’d noticed the little things that made this place unique. The people played a big part. Everyone always had a smile to offer him, even if he still struggled to communicate with them.
“No, I don’t regret it,” Sam said after a brief pause. James’s shoulders relaxed and he smiled softly, glancing briefly at Sam before returning his attention back to the road. “Maybe it wasn’t exactly what I had in mind when I put adventurous down on my resume, but it’s growing on me.”
James chuckled and pulled into the parking lot of a tall building. “What did you have in mind?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe to be sent on off-site assignments to cover blue whale migration patterns.”
James laughed as he opened the door, the sound echoing off of the brick walls around them. Sam decided he liked the sound of his laughter and wanted to hear it more often.
They walked to the elevator in silence except for their footsteps in the confined parking lot. The easy mood that had settled between them dissipated with every step they took.
By the time they made it to the elevators, Sam was bouncing on the balls of his feet and tapping his finger nervously against his thigh.
“Hey,” James said softly and reached for Sam’s hand.
Sam tried to give James a reassuring smile, to let him know he wanted this, whatever this was. But he didn’t know how successful he was. The elevator stopped on the fifth floor and James led him to apartment 504, at the end of the hall.
Sam entered James’s house and looked around, whistling softly. The entrance where they stood flowed into an open-concept kitchen and living room layout with sleek modern furniture of colors varying from white to gray.
A roundish crystal chandelier, hanging over a large kitchen island, illuminated dark granite countertops and brushed steel appliances. Glass panels separated a dedicated office space from the rest of the apartment.
Sam’s gaze drifted around the space, trying to take everything in at once. It was considerably larger than his apartment and was decorated by someone with far better taste than him.
“Fancy,” he teased, turning to glance at James.
James peered around sheepishly and blushed slightly. It was the cutest thing Sam had ever seen.
“I might be into interior decorating,” James admitted, running a finger over an elegant mantelpiece.
Sam took a deep breath and decided to be brave. This time, he was the one who closed the distance between them and pressed James against the wall. James let out a long moan as Sam’s lips made contact with his. He pressed himself against James, trapping him between the wall and Sam’s body.
“Damn, I want you,” James murmured before latching his lips to Sam’s again.
Sam was in no way proud of the whimper that escaped him. Luckily, James swallowed down the sound and buried his long fingers in Sam’s hair, pulling Sam tight against him. Sam’s knees went a little weak as the other man’s tongue licked into his mouth. He could imagine the rest of his body.
He fumbled with James’s belt buckle, anticipation making his fingers clumsy. James grabbed his hands, stopping their movements.
Sam broke away from him, panting. Worried he’d done something wrong or interpreted the signals wrong and James didn’t actually want to have sex with him. Or if James had come to his senses and realized that Sam wasn’t the type of guy anyone took home to hook up with.
“Bedroom,” James said in a hoarse voice that made Sam shiver.
Sam nodded, too relieved to worry if he seemed eager. James smiled brightly and tugged him down the hall, past an elegantly furnished living room.
He made a mental note to ask if he could look around after. Because it looked like James had actually put effort into furnishing his apartment.
All of that flew out of his mind as James pulled him into his bedroom, which was as nice as the rest of his apartment.
Sam registered some black-and-white photos on the wall and an elegant wooden bookcase filled with paperbacks. However, his attention was inevitably drawn to the king-size bed in the middle of the room.
He barely had time to notice that the covers were an unexpected bright green before he was lifted by strong arms.
Sam gasped, automatically wrapping his legs around James’s waist and arms around his neck to keep his balance.
And then he was being kissed again. It was hard, with teeth clacking and too much saliva. But James’s mouth was the best thing Sam had tasted in a while. So he kissed him hungrily. He bounced as James lowered both of them onto the mattress, still covering Sam’s body with his and pinning both Sam’s hands above his head.
“Is this okay?” James asked, nosing his way up Sam’s throat.
“Yes,” Sam answered, canting his hips up. His skin felt hot and too tight for his body. James grazed his teeth against his neck and Sam moaned loudly. He tilted his head to the side, inviting James to play with his neck. And he did. Licking and sucking and probably leaving a few marks Sam was sure to be embarrassed of later.
But he didn’t care. He wanted to feel just a little of that sweet friction again. James groaned into his mouth as their cocks aligned. It felt good. But it was
n’t enough. The fabric between them was too thick and got in the way.
“I want you naked,” Sam said, reaching for James’s shirt.
James nodded and helped him pull it up and off, then tossed it somewhere behind them, not caring where it landed. He started to pull Sam’s shirt, but Sam stopped him.
“Condoms?” Sam asked.
“Nightstand,” James mumbled against his lips.
Sam pushed him back and scooted on the bed, kicking his shoes off.
“Second drawer,” James said, and fabric rustled as James took the rest of his clothes off.
Sam fumbled with the loose papers, pens, and packets of Kleenex before emerging triumphant, clutching a bottle of lube and three condoms. He turned around, smiling and holding out his bounty, but froze in place, jaw going slack as he registered the sight before him.
James stood at the foot of the bed. While Sam had been fumbling for condoms and lube, he’d managed to remove every single item of clothing and was gloriously naked. As Sam watched, he lazily stroked his cock, smirking at him.
His shoulders were wide and hips narrow. He was well built but not overly defined, with perfect dusky nipples. A patch of dark wiry hair curled at the base of his cock, making Sam’s mouth water, and fine hair spread down his thighs. He wanted to touch and lick all of him.
Sam sat there, gawking at him, until he noticed James grinning, then fumbled for the lube until the bottle slipped from his hand and rolled on top of the covers.
“You’re just gonna sit there?” James asked.
Sam stood and started to pull off his shirt, then hesitated. He didn’t consider himself particularly ugly. Or particularly handsome, for that matter. He was a regular guy most people probably wouldn’t look at twice on the street.
As if sensing his hesitation, James walked around the bed to stop in front of him.
Sam tried to keep his focus fixed on James’s face. But there was too much of him on display to be ignored. His gaze trailed down James’s naked body, and he swallowed, his throat making a dry clicking sound.
