Christmastime at Papa Lee's Read online

  “Thanks for the lift,” he said through a yawn.

  “You’re welcome, hon. Get a good night’s sleep, and I’ll see you tomorrow for the start of our shift.”

  “To tell the truth,” he said through another yawn, “I’ll be kinda glad when Christmas is all over and we get back to normal.”

  He opened the door and made to get out.

  “Hey.”

  He turned back to look at her.

  “A little birdie tells me your birthday is coming up soon.”

  Casey frowned. “Who told you that?”

  “Papa Lee, who else? I’m glad you stuck around, Casey, and I’m pleased you gave Marty another chance.”

  Casey didn’t know what to say, and he decided to go with honesty. “I don’t want to be anywhere else, and Marty didn’t need a second chance, because I wasn’t letting him get away from me in the first place. The sooner he realized he was mine, the better off we both were,” he said quietly, getting out and waving before he shut the door and headed into the house. He wanted nothing better than to have a shower and crawl into bed with the man he loved. Casey most enjoyed the time of day when he woke to find himself wrapped up in Marty’s embrace.

  Entering their bedroom, he saw Marty sprawled on his side of the bed. Well, as sprawled as a man can be with two plaster casts on. His man looked peaceful. It wasn’t until Marty spoke that he realized the object of his desire was awake and waiting for him.

  “You’re late.”

  Moving across the room, Casey sat on the edge of the bed.

  “Deidre and I had a couple of boxes delivered that we needed to go through at the end of the shift.” Reaching out he brushed the wayward hair from Marty’s face. “How was your day? How did everything go at your checkup?”

  Marty’s eyes opened fully, and he smiled sweetly for a moment before turning into a lecherous grin. “He okayed me for sexual activities as long as we are careful and take things easy.”

  The tip of Casey’s tongue darted out to wet his lips. “Sexual activities, you say. What did you have in mind?”

  “Well,” Marty drawled, “after you shower, I was hoping you may be interested in taking this broken old man for a little test drive.”

  Casey had to bite his lips to keep from laughing out loud and waking the rest of the house. Nodding, he hurried into the bathroom and got himself ready. After showering he dug the lube out from the drawer where they hid it, and squirting some onto his fingers, he rubbed it into his hole. Casey wanted to be as prepared as possible. Pressing against the opening he gasped at the first bite of pain. It seemed like forever since he pleasured himself in any way at all. Hell, it had been forever.

  A groan escaped him as his finger sunk in deeper than he thought possible. The feeling was good. He rode the pleasure he was giving himself for a moment before adding a second and then a third finger, opening himself up to be able to take the thick cock he knew was waiting for him in their bed. His fingers grazed over his prostate enough times for his body to be afire with the need to come. With his free hand, he reached down and tugged on his balls to stem the need. Removing his fingers from his body, he quickly washed up again and turned off the faucet. The second the towel touched his already sensitive skin he broke out in instant goose bumps that had nothing to do with the weather or how cold it was and everything to do with what was about to happen in the other room.

  By the time he made it back to the bedroom, Marty was lying there with his own hand slowly stroking his cock. The drops of pre-cum were sitting on top of the slit like the perspiration on the side of a cold glass of soda. Casey couldn’t help himself as he crawled up the bed, careful not to hurt Marty, and swallowed the prize until Marty’s cock slid into his throat.

  “Fuck! I love it when you do that. Your mouth is absolutely fucking perfect and made for sucking my cock.”

  Casey grunted and let the hard appendage slip from his mouth with a pop. “I was made for sucking a cock — your cock, nobody else’s.” He didn’t give Marty time to answer as he swooped in and claimed his prize once again.

  “Casey…baby…if you keep that up the show is going to be over before we even have a chance to start.” The words took a moment to sink in to the fog of pleasure filling Casey’s mind, and it took all his will power to let the prize slip from his mouth a second time.

  Grinning he moved up until he straddled Marty’s hips. “Then let’s get this party started.” Reaching into the nightstand, he pulled out a condom and covered Marty’s still leaking cock. “Are you ready for me?” Lining up the head of the cock against his waiting hole, he slowly lowered himself until he was fully seated, panting softly as his body adjusted to the welcome invasion.

  When he rotated his hips, he felt Marty stir within him, and it took all his control not to jump feet first over the edge and into a raging orgasm. Casey wanted this to last, and he wanted to feel Marty erupt inside him.

  “Oh fuck!” Marty panted, his eyes closed and his hands trembling where they rested on Casey’s hips.

  “Feels good doesn’t it?” Casey whispered as he leaned down and feathered kisses over Marty’s face.

  “No!” Marty gasped. “It feels perfect.”

  Casey began the slow rise and fall he hoped would get them both off while not causing any further pain to Marty’s already abused body. He rose up until only the head of Marty’s cock remained within him, then dropped to feel the fullness once more.

  With the blankets pushed back, it should have been freezing, but the mere touch of the man below him sent burning trails across his flesh.

  “So close, so close, so close.” Marty chanted. The pleasure looked good on Marty, and Casey got off on the fact he was the one who was bringing it to his lover. Through this he was hoping Marty would see exactly how much he meant to him, hoped he would see how much Casey truly loved him.

  “Open your eyes. I wanna be able to look into your eyes as you come.” Casey crooned from his perch. Marty’s eyes opened, and his gaze locked onto Casey. “Come for me. Fill me up with your love.”

  Marty’s breath seemed to catch in his throat as he cried out in completion, Casey’s name falling from his lips in such a passionate plea, it pulled Casey right into his own pleasure as his orgasm ripped through his body. His cock pulsed endlessly as he painted Marty’s chest without so much as laying a finger on his dick. Collapsing, he braced himself on his elbows; he didn’t want to squash Marty more than he already was.

  “Are you okay?” he asked when he caught his breath enough to be able to speak.

  “Yeah, I’m fine, but maybe you could kinda slide to the side and snuggle for a bit.”

  He notice Marty winced as he did as requested, and guilt swamped him knowing he had hurt him. “How bad are you hurt?”

  Marty turned his head to face him. “I’m not hurt. Believe me, I would tell you if I was. If you had stayed connected to me, I would have wanted to go again, and I don’t think I’m quite up for that yet.”

  “Oh, okay.” Feeling somewhat better, Casey slipped from the bed and quickly and quietly made his way to the bathroom and cleaned himself up before returning to the bedroom with a damp wash cloth to clean his spunk from Marty’s chest. He had to smile because Marty had already fallen asleep. He looked beautiful and positively well fucked. Tossing the washer onto the towel he’d used earlier, he climbed into bed and pulled the quilts up over them as he snuggled in close.

  Lying there in Marty’s arms, Casey felt loved, something he hadn’t felt in a very long time. He couldn’t seem to fall into the peaceful sleep he craved. Instead, his mind kept going back to the last Christmas he spent with his family.

  They’d just finished eating Christmas lunch when Casey found the strength to come out to his family. The amount of yelling which ensued had his younger stepsiblings in tears and his father sitting in shock. Within an hour, Astrid had him out the front door and out of their lives. The next day Casey turned sixteen and spent the day looking for somewhere to get out of t
he snow and begin his life again. At the tender age of sixteen, he had to step up and become a man.

  As the days drew closer to Christmas and his birthday, he was both happy and sad, and he missed his father more than he ever felt possible. Strangely, he even missed Astrid and her sons.

  Before the day he came out to them, Astrid had been almost nice; even though he was sometimes made to feel like he didn’t belong.

  As much as he hurt he had been glad his father found somebody to love again after his mother passed away.

  Before he could close his eyes and sleep, the sun rose. As the new day began, he heard Graeme get up and leave for the day.

  Slipping from the bed, Casey made his way to the kitchen and started the kettle, needing the hit of caffeine to kick start his day. He was sitting there, sipping on his cup of coffee, staring at nothing, his mind not really focusing on anything. When he felt a hand land on his shoulder, he jumped and almost spilled his coffee until he realized it was Catherine.

  “Are you okay?” she asked, concern tinged her voice.

  “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. I was thinking about my dad. I miss him sometimes.”

  “Especially getting closer to your birthday. It must be hard on you.”

  “A little,” Casey agreed. “I wish things could have gone differently, you know?”

  “Maybe one day you’ll get to see them again.” She squeezed his hand as she sat beside him.

  “Luckily I have a new family who loves me. I won’t hold my breath hoping Dad will come around. He has a new family now. He doesn’t need me anymore.”

  “Oh, Casey,” she whispered, “don’t think like that. You never know what may happen in the future.”

  “Marty’s my future now. I don’t need them.” Even as he spoke the words, he knew he was lying through his teeth. “What time do you have to head in to work?”

  “This morning I have to take Marty to an appointment. I’ll be in later.”

  The way she couldn’t quite meet his eyes, Casey knew she was going to be helping Marty with his secret agenda. He also knew no matter how much he asked Catherine, she would deny anything was happening at all. After pushing up from the table, he rinsed his cup out in the sink.

  “I’m gonna get ready and head in early. Deidre will be around to pick me up soon. We have to go through the last of the stuff for Christmas day. We’ve started bagging up the gifts, and some staff from the other businesses are coming in to help.”

  “I’ll be in later to help, around lunchtime I think.” She smiled at him as he headed back to the bedroom. Marty was still asleep as he sat and applied the kohl around his eyes and added mascara, liking how the darkness made his eyes stand out on his very plain face. Studying his nails, he saw he would soon need to reapply his nail polish, as it was starting to chip. He made a mental note to fix it later.

  “Are you going to the café?” Looking over his shoulder, he smiled at Marty lying in the rumpled bed.

  “Yeah, I am. We’re starting the cooking today and getting the last minute stuff done. We don’t want to be overwhelmed tomorrow.”

  “Sonny’s going to bring me in tomorrow; I don’t want to miss out on the big day.” He grinned, and he looked sexy as hell.

  Casey found it hard not to walk over and crawl into bed with the mouthwatering man.

  “I know; he told me yesterday. It’s going to be a good day.”

  Walking across the room, he dropped a kiss onto Marty’s upturned lips when Catherine called out that Deidre had arrived.

  “See you when I get home, love,” he said as he headed out the door.

  Epilogue

  Christmas day dawned, and Marty’s guts felt like they had been replaced by a bucket of live worms. Today was the day he was either going to make Casey the happiest man in the world or the most pissed off man in the world. Everyone had already headed into café to start reheating the food and preparing the tables for the first round of guests. Sonny had come and gone. Marty didn’t want him here when his plan kicked in. His mother was under strict instructions to keep Sonny from telling Casey what was going on. At that moment he was having second thoughts about what he planned. He seriously hoped it didn’t all backfire in his face, and he hoped like hell he didn’t hurt the man he loved.

  He was waiting in the lounge by the time the Chambers arrived, and he was happy to see they didn’t look angry or upset, though Astrid seemed a little preoccupied. He hoped nothing was going to cause problems today, because they were the last things any of them needed. He hoped Casey was willing to give them time to talk before he lost the plot completely.

  Marty shook hands with Casey’s dad before the man helped him into the car where his family waited. Luckily they had a van, and there was plenty of room for the cast which ran from his knee to his toes.

  “Thank you for doing this.”

  Marty nodded. He waited for Malcolm to get into the car before he spoke. “Please, whatever happens, remember today is about more than you getting to see Casey again. I do not want Casey to be upset or embarrassed in any way. If you can’t promise me that, then you can help me back inside, and we can forget about this.

  “We understand,” Astrid said as Malcolm started the car and the drove toward the café and the busy day which awaited them.

  § § §

  Casey was run off his feet, and as the day progressed, he got busier. Every time he thought he had time for a breather, something new cropped up. He wasn’t happy when Sonny arrived without Marty and told him Marty had found another ride to get there. Before anymore could be said, Catherine had given him a new job to occupy his time.

  While he was checking things out, the stuff in the heated food line was ready to be served when he felt someone’s gaze upon him. Turning slowly he felt all the blood drain from his face as he stared at the family which had walked in. He felt the wooden spoon in his hand drop to the floor as they stood staring across the room at each other. His gaze drifted past them to fall on the man who was seated on the chair beside them and saw the worried look in his lover’s eyes.

  Not knowing what to do, he did the first thing which came to his mind. He fled. Casey ran back through the kitchen and pushed his way back outside and stood in the cold, hoping the snow would cool him down enough to help him think clearly.

  What were they doing here? They disowned him three years ago.

  Why would they turn up now?

  He didn’t turn as he heard the kitchen door open. He didn’t want to know who followed him outside, because whoever it was, he probably didn’t want to talk to them anyway, not when his mind was still too confused to work right.

  “Kevin.”

  Casey cringed as he heard his stepmother’s voice.

  “Please, Kevin,” she tried again. He was very thankful she didn’t try to touch him.

  “My name is Casey now.”

  “I know. Your friend told me.”

  At this Casey spun around and stared at her. “What friend?”

  “Martin. He came to us and wanted to talk about you. He wanted…” her voice trailed off for a moment. “He wanted to see what we had done when we…when I made you leave.”

  “He had no right.” Anger coursed through him.

  “Maybe not, but I’m glad he did. I want to apologize. I want to say how sorry I am for doing what I did. I was wrong. I know that now.”

  Tears blurred Casey’s vision. It couldn’t be happening, not now. For three lonely years, he hoped his family would come looking for him. Now that he finally moved on and started his life for the third time, he didn’t need them anymore.

  But that’s a lie isn’t it?

  “Why now?” He hugged his arms around his body to ward off the chill.

  “I’ve been attending meetings and learning all about how very wrong I was and how badly I handled things.”

  “What meetings?” Casey was having trouble making sense of everything.

  “For parents who have gay children. I’ll never be able to forgive m
yself for the way I reacted when you were courageous enough to come out to us.”

  Casey stared at her in disbelief. “You know Dad has been giving me money every month,” he blurted out.

  She shook her head. “No, Kev— Casey, I’m the one who’s been putting the money into your account every month. I know it wasn’t enough, but it was all we could afford.”

  “Y— you gave me the money?” He was more confused than ever.

  “It took me a long time to realize how wrong I was, but I didn’t want to lose my husband. I knew I had to try and understand.”

  Tears were freely running down her face. “We’ve been searching for you for a long time. It never occurred to us you would change your name. When your friend came looking for us, we were excited beyond belief.”

  “Marty is my boyfriend. You do realize that don’t you?”

  “Yes, I do. I told you, I’ve had a lot of time to realize how wrong I was in the way I treated you. I know I have no right to ask you, but I’m selfish; I’m going to ask — no beg — you anyway. Please can you find it in your heart to forgive me?”

  Casey wasn’t sure if he was ready to forgive and forget quite yet, though he did hug Astrid before saying, “I need to get back in and help. I need time to think about it. I can’t give you an answer right now.”

  “I understand. If you can’t forgive me, please don’t hold my actions against your father. You don’t know what he went through after what happened. He has never stopped loving you, and he has missed you terribly.”

  Nodding but not answering, Casey walked back into the café and hung up his jacket before heading back out to the front.

  Guests were already lining up outside the door in anticipation of what was to come. Slowly he walked across the room until he stood in front of his father and brothers. They hadn’t moved. A shudder ran through him as his father pulled him into his arms. It felt strange being in an embrace he had not felt in the past three years, arms he had missed so damn much.