It took the rest of his week off for Jayden to convince him to quit his job, and while Ranjit was hardly thrilled with the decision, the truth was it saved him a whole lot of trouble, too, so in the end Ranjit had given Lucas a pretty decent severance which Lucas used on the down payment for starting up a new business instead.

There were plenty of people on the Upper West Side who wanted to learn some self-defense, and Lucas was way more qualified than most instructors. His connection to Jayden didn't hurt, either. Initially some customers were swayed by the allure of a celebrity trainer, even one so minor as Lucas, but after that first wave the word spread, and he was able to run several classes a week.

Six months in and he was doing okay. He had all the time he needed to keep up with chores around the home, and was earning enough to pay the dojo's rent and allow himself a small wage. Jayden hadn't even fought him on that one - he'd understood right away what it meant to Lucas for him to be able to draw his own paycheck instead of living on Jayden's money. He even grasped how much time away from home it would've taken for Lucas to remain in the personal security business, so he was more than willing to throw in his support in teaching Lucas the basics of running a business.

Jayden had done amazing things with Deus Pharmaceuticals, too. A couple of board members had apparently taken him up on his offered amnesty and admitted to taking a bribe to vote against him and, true to his word, he let them quit gracefully. A couple more got ousted in the audit. Now the company had a reasonably young, modern board which included a promotion for Jo-Ann. They had bright ideas and a whole lot of enthusiasm, and Jayden was thoroughly excited to go to the office when he had to. He worked from home two days a week to cut down on his commute.

The board clean-up had made some investors jittery, so Jayden's mom had been able to swoop in and buy up a whole lot of shares when the price slumped. Together they now had over 80% of the company in their hands, so the chances Jayden could get ousted again were virtually nil.

But the most important change was that customers could afford their meds again. Lottie no longer struggled just to keep Tamsin alive. Fox News was livid and kept running attack pieces on how Deus Pharmaceuticals was flushing itself down the toilet, but he was CNN’s new darling CEO, constantly invited to interviews and panels.

Life was, he had to admit, going pretty damn awesomely. His only problem now was what kind of Christmas gift could you give the guy whose net worth was well into seven figures?

The internet saved him, and he stood in the kitchen with his erect cock in a silicone mold, checking the timer on his phone while he waited for it to set. Now and then he flicked to photos of Jayden trussed up in different positions, sometimes with reddened ass high in the air, other times with Lucas' cum smeared across his skin, to make sure he stayed hard while the silicone solidified around him.

It only took a couple of minutes for the silicone to set, but he gave it an extra two just to be sure, then had to think the least sexy thoughts he could to get himself soft enough to wriggle the mold off himself. He stood it on a plate and put it in the fridge, then set a timer for twenty minutes and hurried off to the bathroom to clean himself up.

This had better all be worth it.

"Do you want to do presents before we go visit Mom, or after?"

Lucas feigned innocence. "I think after is good. We're already taking all their gifts with us, we may as well not carry unnecessary weight." Lottie and Tamsin were coming down from Inwood and meeting them at Jayden's mom's for dinner.

Jayden nodded in agreement, then leaned across and kissed him. "Merry Christmas, baby," he purred.

Lucas slipped his hands under the sheets and reached for Jayden's ass to pull him closer. "Merry Christmas," he murmured against Jayden's lips.

"Think we've got time before we go?"

Lucas laughed. "I think we have, but if we wait until later we've got all evening."

Jayden eyed him with a little pout. "You're up to something, I can tell."

"Yeah." He grinned. "I am. And you're gonna have to wait to find out what it is."

"So what did Lucas get you for Christmas?" Tamsin asked Jayden without any hesitation.

"I don't know yet," Jayden said as he offered her the potatoes. "We aren't exchanging gifts until later."

"Uh huh." Lottie eyed Lucas with a smirk, then looked over to Helena. "The turkey's really good. Did you have to keep basting it?"

Lucas chuckled as he rested his hand on Jayden's thigh under the table and Helena began to talk through the intricacies of keeping a large turkey moist.

Lottie knew him far too well.

They sat around the fire after dinner, and if the drooping eyes were anything to go by almost everyone was lapsing into a food coma. Tamsin was obviously the exception, and now she was dragging over the bags Lottie had brought with her.

"Presents!" she declared loudly.

"Oh!" Jayden leaped up to go get the bag they'd brought with them, too.

"I get to give presents, first," Tamsin said. "I like giving presents."

Helena chuckled. "That's very generous of you, Tamsin."

"I'm sorry." Lottie blushed. "I hope it's okay?"

"Of course!" Jayden and Helena said at once. By which time Tamsin had a present in her hands and was offering it to Helena.

"Open it!" Tamsin hopped on her toes, her eyes eager.

"Why, thank you." Helena took the little box and unwrapped it with care, then lifted the lid. "Oh, isn't that beautiful! Did you make it yourself?"

Tamsin nodded eagerly. "Uh huh!"

Lucas leaned in to watch as Helena pulled out a necklace made from multicolored beads, and Helena unfastened it to put it around her neck. "It's so pretty! Thank you so much, I love it!"

Tamsin squealed with delight and grabbed a box for Jayden. "This is for you!"

Jayden smiled as he took it, and he picked the paper apart with just as much care as his mother had. When he took the lid off, he blinked, then laughed warmly. "Oh my God, Tamsin, this is awesome! Thank you!"

Lucas tried to get a look into the box, but he needn't have. Jayden pulled out another bead necklace, and tried to pull it on over his head, but he had to take his glasses off to get it on properly.

Tamsin distributed two more boxes, and Lottie and Lucas both laughed as they too received the bright, cheerful necklaces.

"Thank you," Lottie chuckled.

"I am never taking this off," Lucas said as he put his on. He wasn't sure it'd fit over his head, so he used the little plastic clasp instead. "It's brilliant! Thanks, Tamsin!"

"You're welcome!" She scurried back to Lottie and hopped up onto the couch by her side.

Lottie went next, dishing out gifts to all except Tamsin, who had undoubtedly already had hers at home. Lucas waited as Helena opened a Blu-Ray of The Hitman's Bodyguard - "A totally accurate representation of Lucas' previous job," Lottie declared with a straight face - and as Jayden unwrapped a box of hair dye - "You'd look awesome with bleached tips, trust me!" - before he opened his own gift.

"You're a bad person," he sighed as he pulled the cufflinks out of the box. He couldn't help but chuckle. "They're perfect, thank you."

Jayden leaned in to get a closer look, then turned bright red. "Oh wow! They're... a statement!"

"Let me see!" Tamsin said.

"No!" said Lucas, Jayden, and Lottie. Lucas hid them in a pocket before Tamsin could lay eyes on them.

Jayden hurried to pass out gifts. "Now these are from both of us," he said. "So if you like it, thank me, and if you hate it, blame Lucas."

"Jayden!" Helena scolded him with a laugh. "Thank you, Lucas, I'm sure it's great!"

"You might wanna hold off on that, just in case." Lucas slipped his arm around Jayden's waist as he sat.

Tamsin tore into hers with gusto, shredding the paper and littering the couch with it. Then she gasped. "Oh wow! This is for me?" She clutched at the Kindle in her hands. "Thank you! I love it! Mom, I can read books on this!"

"You can!" Lottie agreed. She fussed Tamsin's hair, then opened her own present, and Lucas bit his lip as he waited.

"It's just a little something," Jayden said softly, "to thank you for everything."

Lottie gasped and lifted a hand to cover her mouth. "It's gorgeous," she whispered. "Thank you so much!"

"Put it on!" Tamsin wriggled in her seat.

Lottie pulled the silk scarf from the wrapping paper and eased it around her neck. Her fingers ran down it, and she tucked it under her bead necklace to hold it in place. "I love it!"

"Good, because I lost the receipt," Lucas laughed.

"Go on, Mom," Jayden urged Helena.

Helena opened her gift and laughed warmly. "Now this," she murmured, "is the best gift a mother could ever have. Thank you! It's perfect." She rose from her seat and crossed to the fireplace, then placed the silver photo frame in the center of the mantel.

The photo was of Jayden and Lucas. They'd only had the shoot a couple of weeks ago, just for this gift, and Lucas remembered it like it was yesterday. Mostly because Jayden kept trying to get him hard for the pictures.

God, he was fucking perfect.

Finally it was Helena's turn and, as Jayden had predicted before they came, she'd got a little science kit for Tamsin, who was over the moon with it. Lottie was thrilled to receive a pair of earrings, and she gave Jayden and Lucas matching awful Christmas sweaters, then insisted they wear them.

As they settled in to play some board games, Lucas was struck by just how amazing this was. He didn't just have Jayden. In coming together, they'd both gained a family, and Lucas had new purpose in life. He wasn't just in love.

He was whole.

"So what was it you couldn't take to Mom's to give me?" Jayden grinned as they got home.

"Just something I figured might not travel well. I spent a lot of time making it, I didn't want it to get broken." Lucas kissed Jayden's cheek as he shut the door behind them.

"Oh. I thought it might be something naughty." Jayden laughed as he ran his hand across Lucas' ass. "I got you something naughty..."

"You did, huh?" He tailed Jayden toward the Christmas tree and eyed the two presents under it. One was from him, but the other was from Jayden, and he itched to know what it was.

"Go on!" Jayden scooped it up and offered it to him with a wicked smirk.

Lucas raised an eyebrow. The box was light, small, so he pulled the wrapping off and opened it.

Inside was an ambitiously-sized butt plug.

He coughed. "Why do I get the feeling this is one of those presents that's more for the person who gave it than the person they gave it to?"

"Because it is!" Jayden laughed and leaned in for a kiss. "Merry Christmas!"

"I'll enjoy sticking it in you later," Lucas chuckled. "Go on. Open yours."

"Sure!" Jayden turned to grab the longer box and picked at the tape which held the paper on, then he lifted the lid from the box and blinked at the long, dark replica of Lucas' cock within. He stared, then looked at Lucas, then grabbed it by the stick which was jutting out from the base. "Oh my God, this is your cock!"

Lucas laughed. "Better than that."

Jayden scoffed. "The only way this would be better is if it was made out of chocolate."

"Uh huh."

Jayden squinted at him, then ran his tongue over the head, and gasped in pleasure. "Oh my God, it is made out of chocolate!" He lapped at it again, then stopped himself. "I should keep it. But I wanna eat it... Decisions!" He suckled on it slowly and eyed Lucas over the frame of his glasses, then popped it free of his mouth. "Did you really make a mold of your cock?"

"Yeah. I kept the mold, too. I can just put more chocolate in it..."

Jayden grinned and set the chocolate dick back in its box, then flung his arms around Lucas' neck. "I love it. Almost as much as I love you. Wait, no, maybe a bit more..."

Lucas snorted and hefted Jayden off his feet. "How about I take you to bed and remind you how much you love me more than chocolate?"

"Yeah, I think we should do some science, just to be sure!" Jayden wrapped his legs around Lucas' waist as he leaned in for a deep, chocolate-tasting kiss.

Yeah, this was heaven, and he would never let it go.