Midwinter Night's Dream (12 page)

I opened the door and Grinch ran out into the snow. He made a beeline down the shoveled cement walkway to the barn. It didn't make a whole lot of sense that Micah would be in the barn, but I followed anyway. Grinch went to a door at the far end, near the cow stall. I opened it and he trotted inside, down the aisle, and right up to an old wooden door set in the wall. It was a half-door, set up off the floor, like it was a huge cupboard or something. Grinch sat on his behind, his eyes locked on the door.

I was about to tell Grinch he was wrong when I heard something on the other side of the door—it sounded like a groan. Heart in my throat, I stood still and listened for a bit. Oh my God. Micah wasn't having sex out here with someone else, was he? There was the muffled sound of flesh on flesh and a heavier groan. A deep voice said:
Yeah. Fuck yeah.

"Micah?" I blurted out, before I could think better of it.

There was silence from behind the door, then someone laughed. "Leo?" It was Sloane's voice. Oh my God. Sloane and Hank were in there.

"Sorry. I'm—Sorry." I felt like burying myself in the nearest bale of hay.

"No problem. Micah's upstairs. By the stage." His voice got a babyish tone. "Good boy, Grinch!"

"Dude, thanks for the cock block," Hank grumbled.

"Sorry. I'm, um, going now."

Okay.
Well, that was embarrassing. I blamed the dog. "I said 'Micah', Grinch. Thanks a lot."

He gave me a look like I was an ungrateful bastard, and crawled under a gate into the cow stall. I walked to the other side of the barn, in the dark, where I knew there were stairs to the upper story.

The Springfield's farm felt especially big at night, and I had a flash of myself wandering around it like Lysander does the woods in my play. I felt just as clueless too. But when I reached the stairs I could see there was a light on in the upper floor of the barn.

"Micah?" I called out softly. I started up.

~10~

Yas

"Micah?" Micah's room was empty. Where was he?

Yas closed the door and looked around the hall, perplexed. Bathroom? Downstairs?

A door in the hall creaked open and a small furry body slipped through—Grinch, the family's bulldog. Grinch looked at her, panting, then went down the hall to the stairs. She heard him softly galumphing down them.

Hmmm. The room Grinch had come out of was one of the spare rooms, Yas was pretty sure. Grinch would be with family, wouldn't he? Was it possible Micah was in there? Maybe he'd given up his own room to someone else. He was so thoughtful that way, Yas thought dreamily.

Well, she might as well check. The door was open after all. Peeking in wouldn't hurt.

She tiptoed down the hall to the open door. She looked inside and could make out a figure in a bed under the covers. A little thrill of giggles rose up.

"Micah?" she whispered. She slipped into the room.

By the time she reached the bed, the figure had woken and turned, looking up at her blearily. "Yas, is that you?"

"Oh, damn." Yas said. "Sorry to wake you, Helen. I was looking for Micah. I'll just—"

Yas started to step back, but Helen reached out and grabbed her wrist. "Wait."

For a moment, they were both frozen. Yas could have pulled her wrist free. Helen wasn't holding it that hard. But she didn't want to. She really liked Helen. She admired Helen's passion, her sense of wit, her bouncy energy. And Helen was pretty too.

"It's cold," Helen said at last. "Come get warm." She let go of Yas's wrist and scooted over, threw back the corner of the bedding invitingly.

"Okay." Yas climbed into the bed, even while part of her brain was asking
What are you doing, girl
?

Without preamble, Helen snuggled close.

"You smell good," Yas said, drinking the fresh honeysuckle scent of Helen's hair.

"The bathrooms will be nuts in the morning, so I showered tonight."

"Oh. Good idea."

Helen's small hands rubbed Yas's waist lightly and Yas felt herself relax. The bed was warm, and it was nice to be here with Helen. She sighed.

"Yas…." Helen's voice was tentative. "I hate to tell you this, but you need to forget about Micah. He's hung up on Leo."

"He
is
?"

"Yeah. Ever since that kiss at Tyrell's party. You haven't noticed?"

Yas had been a little annoyed that Micah seemed to watch Leo, talk to him, more than he did her. But she'd thought Micah was just trying to be supportive, since it was Leo's production. She frowned into the dark, feeling the heat of disappointment burn in her throat.

"Crap. I've been an idiot, huh?"

"No, just your sweet, trusting self." Helen snuggled closer, close enough to reach around and rub Yas's back. "But it's like I told you, you and Micah are too much alike. It never would have worked. You need someone… feistier."

Yas wasn't stupid. She knew Helen liked her, and she knew that the way Helen was touching her was not platonic. Or at least, it could get non-platonic quickly if she didn't get out of this bed. But there was a tickling warmth in her belly and lower, and Yas found she didn't mind Helen's touch one bit.

Well, this was interesting.

"I suppose you have someone in mind?" Yas said, her voice soft.

Helen stilled. Yas heard her swallow in the dark. "Would you let me kiss you? And we can see how it goes?"

That sounded like a reasonable plan. Yas nodded, which was silly because Helen wouldn't be able to see her in the dark. But somehow Helen knew. Soft lips found Yas's and pressed lightly, then again. Yas rolled onto her side and parted her lips for more.

Love was love. Yas let go.

*                               *                                    *

Leo

I'd made it halfway up the stairs when Micah appeared at the top of them. He was backlit against a golden glow. Both hands were braced in the doorway as he looked down at me.

I couldn't see his face, but I didn't need to. He stood with his legs slightly apart and his outline was tense. I could have been blind, and I still would have felt the desire rolling off him. In an instant, I was as hard and restless as I'd been lying in bed, wanting him.

He took a few steps down and I took a few steps up and grabbed him. Then we were making out right there on the stairs.

I kissed him hard and deep, held him tight enough to steal his breath. The past four nights—and too often during the days—I'd remembered the way it felt when Micah surrendered against me. The way he had at the party. The way he had when we'd kissed in the snow. He went all hot and limp with passion—well, limp in all places but one, thank God. I'd never been with anyone like that. I didn't think I had any particular dom-sub kink, but when Micah melted, it was the hottest thing I'd ever felt. It made something deep inside me itchy for more. It was as if he became a hot ocean and I wanted to dive in, deeper and deeper, make him melt even more, make him beg.

One of my hands palmed Micah's ass and the other gripped his neck hard, pulling his head down to me. He was one step above me and I liked it. I could feel his hard cock through his flannel pajama bottoms. It was against my stomach, straight up and throbbing, and I could feel every inch of it.

Micah leaned into me, doing that swoon thing, and I tried to shift to plaster him against the wall, but nearly fell off the rickety stairs. I laughed into his mouth and pulled back.

"I don't think this is what they mean by 'break a leg'."

He chuckled too, a sound that was breathy with desire. "Come on."

He pulled my hand and I followed him up the rest of the steps. The barn looked amazing. The space heaters were all on, their elements glowing red like mysterious eyes in the forest. We'd placed dozens of candles around the stage area earlier that day, and they were all lit along with white twinkle lights that were strung along the top of the curtain. In the middle of the 'stage' was what looked like a futon mattress.

Oh, man. I was so getting lucky tonight.

"This wasn't me," Micah said, sounding a little embarrassed. "Sloane set this up. He came by my room and told me to come out here and wait for you. Guess I owe that interfering bastard."

I should have said something nice about Sloane. The small bit of reason I held on to was heading in that direction. But the rest of me didn't care who had done this or why. I put my hands on Micah's shoulders and steered him, backward and with mega intent, to the futon.

He smiled at first, as if I was joking. But I wasn't. And by the time his socked feet hit the mattress, his expression was slack and glassy-eyed. He was breathing hard.

"Lay down," I said.

He did, dropping like a stone.

"Leo?"

There was a lot in that single word.
I want you. I never wanted anyone this much. God, why do I feel like this?
Then again, I was probably projecting my own thoughts. It didn't matter, because all of that was true and pulsed between us.

I knelt down and spread his legs with my knees, anticipating what was about to happen. Then I lay down on top of him. My hand moved to his jaw, tilting it to exactly where I wanted him, and I attacked his mouth.

It was warm with the space heaters, and I was hot with lust and adrenaline. He moaned beneath me, going lax and accepting me completely.
Do anything to me. Do it
. Christ, I wanted everything. But what I wanted first was Micah naked. I hadn’t even had a chance to see his bare chest before. I wanted to see, and feel, his skin.

I sat up and pulled on the hem of his thermal shirt, tugging it up and over his head. Without letting myself get distracted by the sight of all that bare flesh, I shoved off my own coat and pulled off my sweatshirt. Micah was rubbing my thighs, his eyes huge and dark in the flickering light. His skin glowed.
Fuck
. I pushed back so I could kneel at his feet and strip off his flannel pants and underwear. Then I ditched my wellies and jeans too while his hands touched my back. I wanted to get any and all possible distractions over with up front, because I didn’t want to have to stop for anything.

Finally bare, I paused, braced on my arms above him, just to look.

He gave me a sexy smile and spread his arms out, inviting my gaze.

There was a pain in my chest. My heart probably didn't actually stop, but it felt like it. He was like a fantasy. His skin was pale and soft-looking and it gleamed in the candlelight, set off by strands of his long dark dreads. He had a small dusting of hair on his chest, between his nipples, and a luscious happy trail, but was otherwise smooth. His nipples were large and dark brown. His chest and arms had a little muscle, the kind any active guy would have. I loved the sweet curves of them. And between his legs, he had dark hair, trimmed maybe just a touch. His cock was uncircumcised and a bit bigger than I would have expected for his build. It was very hard and lay flat against his belly. The foreskin—
thank you, Lilith
—was retracted enough so that I could see most of a moist-looking pink head. His balls were swollen with need. He looked ordinary and real and crazy beautiful at the same time.

I swallowed. "Micah."

He'd been looking at me too, and now he raised his eyes to meet mine. "I love the way you look," he said, his voice low and deep. "I love all of it. Can't believe how much actually."

I could have said the same, except my capacity for speech had vanished. I wanted to devour him, but more than that, I just wanted to feel him against me. I lay back down. Micah spread his legs wide around my hips and hooked his calves over mine. He welcomed me down into a kiss.

We just kissed for a long time. I was in another zone, and I could feel Micah there with me. We were pressed together, skin to skin, chest, hips, thighs. My balls rested on his, slick with sweat and heat, and my cock was next to his. We rocked just a little. Our hard lengths felt nearly the same size, but I loved the way his foreskin slipped against me over his rigidness.

For a long time that was enough, moving together just enough to coast on that wave of pleasure, but not in any hurry to get off. A stream of barely-there moans came from his throat. His calves pulled me in tightly and his hands ghosted over me, feeling everything he could reach, while I held his head, rubbed his cheekbones with my thumbs, and let my body soak in the feel of him.

And then it wasn't enough anymore. He held my hips and started pushing up into me harder and faster. And suddenly, I had to have him.

"Stop." I pulled my mouth away. Oh wretched mouth, that it could either speak or kiss, but not do both at the same time!

He went still beneath me. His dark eyes burned up into mine.

I took a few shaky breaths. "I want to fuck. Is that okay?"

He froze. "I'm, um, I haven't—"

"No. You in me. I brought a condom. Is that something you'd want?"

His fingers gripped my hips so tight it hurt. "Oh God, yes."

I sat up on my knees so I could find my jeans and get the condom I had in the pocket.

Micah propped up on his elbows, ready to move.

"You're good," I said with a growl. "Stay there."

"Okay," he said breathlessly.

Shaky as a junkie that needs a fix, I tore open the condom packet with my teeth and put it on him. It was torture to roll it down that beautiful cock, but as much as I would have liked to play with it—or suck it—I really wanted him inside me. I was too close to coming to screw around.

He moaned as I put the condom on, thrusting up his hips. I couldn't wait.

"Don't you need to… I don't want to hurt you," he said.

"Already did."

I held his erection at the base and put the tip of him against my rim. I'd felt a bit foolish when I'd prepped myself in the bathroom before going to find Micah, but now I was so fucking glad I had. His head felt broad, and it took a moment of careful pressing before my muscles relaxed. He made a garbled sound and gripped my hips harder, arching up. But I used my thighs to rise with him. The more he wanted me, the more I wanted to tease him.