“For I never saw true beauty till this night.”
~William Shakespeare
“Ditto.”
~Romeo Bradley
“What does it mean when a lady keeps bringing over casserole dishes?” Howie asked as we strolled down the sidewalk. He led the way with Bess while Jules, Dolly, and I followed behind him. I held Dolly’s leash in my left hand and Jules’s hand with my right.
“She’s romancing you, big guy,” Julius told him. I loved how quickly they had bonded when Jules made it back in time to join us for our nightly walk.
Howie even gave me a thumbs-up when Jules wasn’t looking. “You think so, Jules?”
“She knows the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. She’s wooing you hard.”
“Is she a good cook?” I asked.
“Mighty fine cook,” Howie said. “Should I invite her to join me one evening?”
“Do you want her company?” I asked.
Howie was silent for a few steps then said, “I guess it would be okay. I’m not really ready to date anyone right now, so I don’t want to give her the wrong impression.”
“You can always try being honest and up front. That way she can’t read more into it than what you’re offering,” Jules suggested.
“Have you ever known that strategy to work with a woman?”
“I wouldn’t know,” Jules and I said at the same time, making Howie laugh.
“I guess that’s right,” he conceded. “I mean, I would like to date someone with a sweet disposition and great sense of humor like hers. If I were ready, that is.”
“Does this lady have a name?” Jules asked.
“I’ve known her for a long time. She goes to my church. She can be a real firecracker if the situation calls for it. Should’ve retired a long time ago but thinks the school can’t get along without her.”
I knew then exactly who Howie was talking about. “That’s the first time I’ve heard anyone refer to Priscilla as having a sweet disposition, but I recognized the firecracker comment right off.”
“I forgot she was your secretary,” Howie said. “She doesn’t discuss school business much. She’s the kind of person who does more listening than talking.” Since when? I could hardly get a word in around her. “She values that school and her job.”
“She is irreplaceable,” I admitted. “People like to tease her because she isn’t up to date with modern technology, but she knows things the computer can’t tell us.”
“I know people call her ‘The Dragon’ but she uses her ferocity to do good.”
“I agree with you, Howie.” It sounded to me that maybe my friend was a little more interested in Priscilla than he let on. Maybe he just hadn’t figured it out yet, but he would when he was ready.
Jules squeezed my hand to get my attention. I looked at him, and he waggled his brows like he was thinking the same thing. God, I was so excited to have this man in my life.
“Anyway, I’d like to invite her to share the casserole dishes she brings me, but I’m not sure.”
“You’ll know when the time is right,” I assured him.
“How’s things going with the play? Ready for auditions next week?” Howie asked, changing the subject. I told him about the latest developments. “Preserving Our Society? POS? Who trusts anyone who sets themselves up for those kinds of jokes?”
“That’s what I said,” I told him. The three of us erupted into laughter.
“That’s like an environmental protection group coming up with a name that has an acronym of COAL or PLASTIC.”
“True,” Julius agreed. “It doesn’t make these POS zealots any less threatening though.”
Howie stopped at the intersection and turned to face us. “Also true,” he agreed. “What can I do to help you fight these nutters? I need something to do with my days that doesn’t include moping and feeling sorry for myself.”
“Maybe you could organize a group of people to come and support the kids at the board meeting,” Julius suggested.
“Write an op-ed piece for the Blissville Daily News,” I offered. “Turn your ire away from potholes and onto hateful people who want us all to go back to living in the fifties.”
“Hey, we all know those potholes on Main Street are getting ridiculous. They’re only neglecting them to force us in to voting in favor of creating a payroll tax for anyone working in this town and assessing taxes on anyone working outside of Blissville who isn’t currently paying city taxes. They think if they wait long enough, we’ll get fed up and cave in. The hell we will. Not when revenue continues to grow with every new store that opens up.”
“I didn’t mean to get you all riled up,” I said, patting his shoulder. “Your op-eds are always well-researched and thought out.”
“Thank you,” Howie said, settling down. “And the fifties were a great era.”
“Not if you were gay,” I said.
“Or black,” Jules countered.
“Or a woman who was nothing more than her husband’s property,” I added.
“Okay, maybe it wasn’t so great when you’re not looking through rose-colored glasses,” Howie replied. “Can we at least agree there was excellent music in the fifties?”
“Absolutely,” Jules and I both said.
“You two are something else together. Even a crotchety, half-blind geezer like me can see it.”
“You’re not crotchety,” I countered.
“You’re not a geezer either,” Jules said.
“And clearly you’re not blind if you can see that we make a handsome couple,” I added.
“Enough already,” Howie said, waving to cut us off before crossing the street. “You’ll make me blush. You two fellas go on back to your place, Rome. I can take it from here.”
“We only have to circle back a few blocks once we reach your house,” I pointed out.
Howie turned around and grinned when he reached the other sidewalk. “Your yearning is emitting a frequency that’s disturbing my hearing aid. Go spend time with your fella.”
“What hearing aid?” I asked, knowing damn well he didn’t have one.
“What? I can’t hear you,” Howie shouted back before he turned around and whistled for Bess to follow him.
“I’ll have to work on turning the volume down on my want whenever we’re in public,” I said, smiling at Jules. “Do you want to head back to my place?”
“Oh yeah.” We turned around and headed back the way we came.
“Are you hungry?”
“Mmm-hmmm,” Julius responded.
“Great. I tried this delicious roasted pork recipe I found on Pinterest for the crockpot. I raised my brow over a few of the ingredients but I’m glad I made it anyway. Who knew adding a bit of lemon juice and soy sauce to chicken broth would combine with the juices from the pork tenderloin to make a delicious gravy?”
“I’m sure it’s wonderful, but that isn’t what I’m hungry for right now.”
I sucked in a sharp breath, and my heart threatened to pound its way out of my chest. Julius must’ve mistaken my reaction for uncertainty.
“Rome, we don’t have to do anything you’re not ready for yet.”
“I’m ready,” I said quickly. “That isn’t my issue.”
“What’s the problem then? Your underwear doesn’t match your T-shirt today?” he teased, squeezing my hand.
I couldn’t keep the leer from my face when I looked at him and said, “I’m not wearing any underwear.”
Jules raked his hazel eyes over my body, lingering on the crotch of my gym shorts before he cleared his throat. “How the hell hadn’t I noticed? God, we need to pick up the pace.” He wasn’t teasing about the last part. We quickened our stride which seemed to make Dolly happy. She was a Labrador trapped in a Dachshund’s body.
Once we were back inside my house, Dolly danced in circles while I hung up her leash at the back door and opened the treat jar. “Have you really been good enough to earn this?” I asked, holding the prized goodie in my hand for her to see. Woof! That little bark could’ve said “I’m Daddy’s best girl ever” or it could’ve meant “drop the fucking treat right now or I’ll piss in your shoe while you sleep.” I gave her the treat because she was definitely the first option and I wanted to avoid the second.
“So, I’m not the only one you like to dangle a treat in front of, huh?”
Rather than reply with words, I slid my fingers between Jules’s and led him upstairs to my bedroom. I flipped on the light and tried to see the space through his eyes. A big bed with luxurious linens, a cherry armoire and two matching dressers, and a club chair, ottoman, and end table tucked away in the corner. The colors were a mix of grays and blues, a combination I felt was relaxing and serene.
“That’s some bed,” Julius said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
I looked at him, but his eyes were locked on the four-poster bed made of cherry wood and wrought iron. I didn’t think he saw any other part of my room besides the bed. Why did he sound nervous suddenly? It was just a bed. Yes, the headboard and footboard were made of intricate metal work that formed lotus flowers, but it shouldn’t have been cause for concern. Then it occurred to me.
“Peter didn’t make the bed,” I said. “I bought it when I moved to Blissville. You’ve never seen anything like it because I had it custom made.”
“It’s a work of art, Rome.”
I tugged on Jules’s hand so he would turn to face me. “I probably said the same thing when I saw the bed for the first time but seeing you in my room makes me realize I was wrong. That,” I said, pointing at the bed, “is a piece of furniture. You are the work of art, and together, we’re going to make something devastatingly beautiful.”
“English lit majors are such smooth talkers,” he said, but I saw how much my words moved him.
“Would you expect anything different from a guy named Romeo?” I teased. “I meant every word.” I leaned in for a long, tender kiss then pulled back because there was something important I needed him to hear. “There’s been no one else in that bed other than me.” I released his hand to remove my shirt. “And I want you there with me. Only you. Over me, under me, or beside me. I just want you there.” I placed Jules’s palm over my heart, letting him feel the way it raced for him. Only him.
“You completely unravel me, Rome. You seduce me with your body, heart, and your brain. The perfect trifecta, and I want to make you mine.”
“I want to be yours.” God, I hadn’t wanted anything so bad for a very long time. I reached for the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head, revealing his smooth chest and flawless skin. My hands immediately went to his pecs while he pulled me to him for a hot, needy kiss. I moaned into his mouth as I slid my hands up to wrap around his shoulders and pull him flush against me, needing that skin-on-skin contact. Jules’s skin blazed like he had a fever and was burning up from the inside out.
Jules pulled back from the kiss, breathing hard. “Bed.”
I missed his heat the second I stepped out of our embrace, but the sooner we undressed, the sooner I could have all of him against me. The fooling around on his sofa the previous evening was amazing, but I wanted—needed—to feel all of him pressed against me, moving inside me.
“Baby, are you sure?” Jules asked once we were completely naked. “I know this”—he wrapped his left hand around my aching dick—“is ready, but are you ready here?” He pressed his right hand over my heart then raised his hand to gently caress my temple. “Or here?”
“So ready, Jules.”
The walk to my bed felt more like floating on air. Jules pulled back the duvet then slid between my sheets and I followed until every part of me was touching every part of him. First-time sex between a couple tended to be awkward, at least until passion overrode insecurities and bodies took over and did what they were made to do. In my eagerness to taste Jules’s lips again, I leaned forward to recapture his mouth at the same time he started to lower his head to lick my nipple. My lips smacked hard against his forehead.
“God, I’m sorry,” Jules said. He ran his finger gently over my lips to make sure they hadn’t split. In response, I sucked his finger in my mouth and pretended it was his cock. I loved the way his pupils expanded until there was only a thin rim of color showing around the obsidian circles. Alice had her rabbit hole, and I was teetering on the edge of falling into Julius’s eyes.
I suddenly rolled him to his back and my knee caught the inside of his thigh when I tried to position myself between them. Julius groaned, and my only recourse was to slide lower in the bed so I could kiss it better. The scent of his arousal drove me insane, and my body took over, driving away my inept clumsiness. I gripped his cock and laved it with my tongue, savoring his taste and the way Julius fisted my hair. I wanted to make him writhe, pant, and moan, so I took him to the back of my throat.
“Unh,” Jules grunted. “Maybe we do that when I’m not so worked up, yeah?”
I released his cock from my mouth and circled the flared head with my tongue. “Feels good?”
“Too good. C’mere.” I was torn. I wanted to stay right where I was and work his cock with my mouth until his entire body shook with his pending release. Even then, I was tempted to suck and lick until he came, hoping he would shout my name as he spilled down my throat. His pleading eyes were the deciding factor. “I need you now.”
Jules’s lips met mine when I crawled back up his body then he rolled and pinned me beneath him. Unfortunately, he misjudged the distance to the edge of the bed and cracked his elbow on the nightstand.
“Fuck!” he yelled. I cringed because I knew how bad that had to hurt. We both burst into laughter when he looked down into my eyes. I’d always heard that laughter in bed was a bad thing, but I loved the way Jules’s body shook with mirth when I pulled him into my arms. “Have you seen anything more ridiculous in your life?” Jules asked when he could speak again.
“I’ve never seen anything more beautiful in my life.” I sounded like a besotted, sappy fool, but so what. I was too old to be coy with the man I was falling so hard for. “And the night has just begun.”
I lifted my head, needing to taste Julius’s smile on his lips. We fell into sync then. Our hands sliding over smooth flesh, learning the dips and planes of one another’s bodies while needy moans echoed off the walls of my room. I clung to Jules, unable to get enough of him and wishing I could absorb him into my body. Having his dick inside me would be as close as I could get, so I retrieved the lube and condom from the drawer and handed them to him.
He didn’t double check to see if I was sure; he saw the certainty in my eyes and the steadiness of my hands. Jules took his time stretching me open while kissing me until I was vibrating with need. His fingers grazed over my prostate but never lingered long enough to put me out of my misery. Once he was certain I was ready, he slid the condom down his erect length and slicked it with more lube.
“Go slow,” I urged when the broad head of his cock pressed against my pucker, reminding him it had been a long time for me.
Jules responded by lowering his head and kissing me as he slowly worked his cock inside my body one glorious inch at a time. It was painful at first but then I just felt stretched and full by the time he was buried to the hilt. Jules raised his head and looked down at me. “Still with me?”
“Make me yours,” I whispered breathlessly.
Jules began to move then, slow and languid at first, allowing my body time to adjust, then sped up at my urging. “God, yes. More.” In case my words weren’t enough, I raked my nails down his back until I gripped his ass with both hands and raised my hips up to meet his thrusts. Our sweat-slicked bodies slapped together as we chased our climax, panting and groaning. It was too much and not enough at the same time. I was desperate to come but frantic to make it last at the same time.
I came first with Jules’s name on my lips then held him tight in my arms as my spasming clench pulled him over the edge with me. Jules’s body stiffened and stilled in my arms for a heartbeat before he started rutting inside me again. I felt the scalding heat from his release through the thin latex barrier as he cried out my name. He didn’t stop until I’d milked the last drop from him.
We lay there together touching and kissing for several minutes before he carefully eased out of me.
“Now can I feed you?”
“Shower first?” he countered.
“Sure. I’ll go heat up a plate while you—”
“Join me?”
I wasn’t passing that up. It turned out the only thing more beautiful than Julius Shepherd naked in my bed was him naked and wet in my shower. My greedy hands touched his strong, muscled body everywhere while I washed him with my body wash. Man, did I like that he smelled like me.
“How do you feel about delaying dinner a little longer?” I asked, looking down at his erect penis in my hand.
Jules lowered himself to the shower floor in front of me, gripped my cock, and looked up at me. “Feed me.”
So I did.