Christmas Delights 3 (13 page)

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Publisher:

Forthcoming in November 2013
“Tertium Non Data” and “Bad Secret Santa” in December 2013 at JMS Books.

Chapter 1

A
few days before Christmas, Josh Jericho watched the heavily swirling snow
through the window of the A-frame cabin. He ran his fingers through his thick,
dark blond hair with its gray streaks at the temples.
Why did I ever let
Lily talk me into this?

 Two months ago

“Josh,
you have to get away from here. Your show is in six months. You have to replace
the paintings Dan destroyed,” Lily Marshal insisted. “You can’t keep blaming
yourself for what happened.”

“I
know,” Josh admitted. “But every time I walk into this room, I see Dan’s blood
all over the floor and his body lying in the middle of it. I should have seen
how depressed he was.”

“So,
move.”

“I
can’t. I’m locked into this lease until June.”

“Listen,”
Lily continued, “I have a cousin who owns a cabin in the mountains. It’ll be
quiet with no reminders of Dan. You can stay as long as you need.”

* * *

Josh
turned from the window. The open floor plan allowed a view of the entire first
floor. A kitchen across the back took up about a third of the area. A bar
extended halfway from the right-hand wall and separated the kitchen from the
living area. A set of open stairs on the other side led to the upper level. The
second floor formed a loft over the kitchen. An unmade bed was visible from the
living area.

Six
destroyed paintings lined the wall of the living area opposite the stairs,
three on each side of a large rock fireplace. Each had been slashed corner to
corner in the form of an “X”. The model in every painting was the same man in
very suggestive poses. In some, his dark hair nearly covered the brooding eyes.
In others, the haunted brown eyes seemed almost lifeless. Against the other
wall leaned five half-finished paintings nearly identical to the destroyed
ones.

Josh
looked at the damaged paintings through tear-filled eyes.
Why, Dan? Why
didn’t you let me know how you felt? Why couldn’t I see it? I may have been
able to help. I loved you.
He walked to the easel and picked up his brush.
The painting on the easel depicted the dark-haired man lying on his back on a
couch. His erect cock tented the sheet between his legs. Instead of a face, a
blank circle sat atop the man’s shoulders. Closer examination showed the same
blank circle on all of the unfinished paintings.

A
knock on the door interrupted Josh’s pondering of the painting. A glance at his
watch showed the time as nearly midnight. He walked over, flipped the
porch-light switch, opened the door and stared at the young man there. Snow
covered him like a white robe. The light reflected on it as it swirled around
the hood of his white parka and created a halo effect.

“Hi.
My car broke down at the foot of your drive,” the man explained. “I saw your
light and thought I might use your phone. My cell’s dead.”

Josh
opened the door wider.
I know they say don’t let strangers into your house,
but what have I got to lose? Besides, I can’t leave him out in this storm.
He pointed to the phone on the bar between the living portion of the room and
the kitchen area.

“My
name’s Scott Davis,” the young man said as he stomped the snow off his boots.
“I appreciate this.” He walked across the room and picked up the receiver of
the phone. “Damn! It’s dead too. My mother’s going to be worried about me. I
guess I’d better head back to my car.”

“You’ll
never find it in this blizzard,” Josh said. “You’re lucky you didn’t walk past
the cabin. Take your coat off and get warmed up. You can stay here tonight or
until the storm stops. My name’s Josh.”

“Thanks.
I take it that’s short for Joshua?”

“Yeah.”
Josh watched Scott remove his heavy parka. The shirt he wore fit him like a
second skin and his jeans were just as tight. The bulge in his pants promised a
large handful or mouthful of cock.
I have to ignore this. I know it’s been
six months since Dan and I had sex, but I’m supposed to be in mourning. And,
this man is a total stranger. I gave up on that type of thing years ago
.
“So what are you doing out in the storm?” He asked.

“Visiting
my dad and his partner,” Scott answered.

“Your
dad’s gay?” Josh raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah.”
Scott shrugged. “After over twenty-five years of marriage and three kids, when
I came out ten years ago, he decided he would too. He moved in with a man who’d
been his lover for fifteen years.”

“Your
mother had no idea?” Josh asked astonished.

Scott
shook his head. “She was as surprised as the rest of us.”

Josh
walked into the kitchen and poured two cups of coffee. “Here, this’ll help warm
you up.”

Scott
took the coffee and looked at the destroyed pictures. “Boy! Someone sure did a
number on those. Was it you?”

“No.
It was the model. My partner. He’s dead now.”

“What
happened?” Scott asked, shocked.

“After
he slit the paintings, he used the razor on his wrists.”

“I’m
sorry.”

“That’s
something I don’t understand about people.” Josh’s words held a slight tone of
anger. “You don’t know me and you didn’t know Dan. And yet you say you’re
sorry.”

Scott
shrugged. “You’re right. It’s just the way I was brought up, I guess. When
someone experiences the death of a loved one, you say you’re sorry. It also
goes with my job.”

“What’s
your job?” Josh asked.

“I’m
a preacher,” Scott replied offhandedly.

“You’re
gay; you say ‘damn’ and you’re a preacher? I didn’t think at least two of those
characteristics were compatible.”

“You
could be surprised. There are more of us than you might expect. I take it you
don’t know many accepting churches.”

“I
haven’t been inside a church except for a couple of weddings since I came out.”

Scott
tilted his head to one side and asked, “Bad experience?”

“My
father is the pastor of our Nazarene Church back home. When I came out, he had
to decide between his version of Christianity and his son. You can guess which
he chose.”

“So
you left?”

“Not
until after months at a ‘camp’ for therapy to turn me straight.”

“Let
me guess,” Scott said, “shock therapy?”

“That
and hour-long prayer sessions asking God to heal the poor broken sinner,” Josh
said sarcastically. “I was a little luckier than most. I was able to convince
them I was ‘cured’ of my sickness and they let me go home for a weekend.
Instead, I headed the opposite direction and never looked back. I stopped using
my last name and as soon as I could, I had it legally changed. “I didn’t want
to be reminded of my dad.”

“That
seems a little harsh.”
I wonder if my car breaking down was an accident or
if maybe God thinks this man needs me.
“What was and is your last name?”
Scott asked.

“It
was Willis. My dad named me Joshua after the one in the Bible, so I changed my
last name to Jericho.” Josh chuckled. “You know, ‘Joshua fought the battle of
Jericho and the walls came tumblin’ down’.”

Scott
grinned and nodded. “Sounds good to me.”

“You
know, you look very young for a preacher. Just how old are you?” Josh asked.

“I’m
25. I just graduated from seminary last May.” Scott frowned. “So, how old are
you?”

“I’m
40. I’m an old man.”

Scott
shook his head. “Forty isn’t old.” He walked over and looked at the painting on
the easel. “Looks to me like you need a new model, or at least a new face.”

Josh
stepped behind him. “Yeah. I think you’re right.” He looked at Scott’s
dark-brown hair and blue eyes. “Maybe I could use yours.”

Scott
looked at the painting and shook his head. “Better not on that one.”

“Too
racy for your congregation?”

“It
isn’t that.” Scott grinned. “I’m afraid if someone saw it and recognized me,
they might be disappointed when they saw the real package.”

Josh
let his eyes travel from Scott’s face down to his feet and back. “I don’t think
so.” He walked to the window and looked out. “This doesn’t look like stopping
any time soon. The way I see it, we have two choices. We can share the bed
upstairs, or we can flip a coin for who gets the lumpy, narrow couch.”

“How
big is the bed,” Scott asked.

“It’s
a king.”

“Should
be big enough for both of us, and I’d hate to move you out of your bed,” Scott
protested.

“That’s
assuming you win the coin toss. You might lose and end up on the couch,” Josh
said with a chuckle.

“There’s
that, too,” Scott agreed.

Josh
grinned. “Come on, I’ll get you something to sleep in that’ll be more
comfortable than those tight jeans.”

Josh
led the way up the stairs. He opened a drawer in a bureau, pulled out a pair of
sweat pants and handed them to Scott. “Bathroom’s back downstairs. You can go
first.”

“Thanks.”
Scott went downstairs and a few minutes later, came back wearing the sweat
pants and his tight t-shirt.

Josh
pulled a large sweat shirt out of the drawer. “Here, this might be more
comfortable also.”

The
removal of Scott’s t-shirt revealed a furry patch of nearly black hair over a
chiseled set of abs. The sight caused a tightening of Josh’s cock.
Stop it,
Josh. This guy’s a preacher. He isn’t interested in a one-night fling with an
old man.
He picked up a pair of sweats from the foot of the bed and started
down the stairs. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” He motioned to the bed. “I
usually sleep on this side of the bed if that’s okay with you.”

“It’s
okay with me,” Scott replied. When Josh left, he said a brief, silent prayer,
“Lord,
did you send me here for a reason? What am I supposed to do for this man? What
does he need?

Josh
changed his clothes, stirred and banked the fire and went back upstairs.

Scott
lay with his back toward the side Josh indicated earlier.

Josh
lay down with his back toward Scott.

* * *

Several
hours later, Josh woke and found himself spooned around Scott with one arm
above Scott’s head and the other draped over his waist.

Scott
moved and woke.

Josh
quickly moved his arm from over Scott and scooted backwards. “I’m sorry. I must
have rolled over in my sleep. I tend to cuddle.”

Scott
rolled over to face Josh. “That’s okay. It really felt kind of nice. If I tell
you something, will you not laugh?”

“Most
of the time when people ask that, you know you’re going to find it funny, but
I’ll try,” Josh answered.

“I’ve
never slept with anyone before,” Scott admitted.

“You’re
a virgin!”

“Yes
and no. I don’t mean I’ve never had sex. I’ve just never slept with anyone.”

“So,
you’ve never been in a relationship?” Josh asked.

“I
was in kind of a relationship for a couple of years. He still lived with his
parents. He’d come to my place and we’d have sex, then he’d go home.”

“What
happened to the relationship?”

“He
got engaged to a woman. He said we could continue to see each other, but I told
him I believe in honoring your marriage vows. I haven’t seen him for a couple
of years.”

“Did
he get married?” Josh asked.

“Yeah.
It lasted for about a year. He called me after his divorce and I told him I
wasn’t interested.”

“Is
that the only sex you’ve had?”

“Yeah.
I always felt sex should have some meaning, some kind of feeling behind it.”

“Going
back a ways, what did you mean by ‘yes and no’ when I asked if you were a
virgin?”

“I’ve
had sex, or at least a form of sex. I’ve just never had the penetration type of
sex.”

“Your
choice or his?”

“Kind
of both. Neither of us wanted to be on the bottom.”

“Bottoming
isn’t as bad as you think once you’ve tried it.”

“Have
you?”

“Dan
and I were versatile when it came to positions,” Josh admitted. The topic of
conversation caused a tightening in his groin. “I’m going to go down and check
the fire. Go back to sleep.”

“Okay.”

Chapter 2

When
Scott woke, he was alone in the bed. He found Josh downstairs at the easel with
his brush in hand.