Something Like Lightning (16 page)

William spun around, his face crumpled. “I don’t want to be like them!” Then he grabbed hold of Kelly, squeezing him tight. Painfully so, but Kelly took it, because it felt better than when William had pulled away.

“Stay the night,” Kelly murmured.

William stepped back, uncertainty in his eyes. For a moment Kelly thought he’d say his mother needed him, or something self-sacrificing like that, but instead he nodded. Kelly reached down to take one of William’s hands and led them toward the house. The back door was still unlocked, but he paused before opening the sliding glass door.

“We have to be quiet. Even once we’re in my room.”

William nodded his understanding.

On the way up the stairs, Kelly pictured how the night might go. Should he try to cheer William up? Maybe with some online shopping or silly YouTube videos? He couldn’t imagine either being effective. William probably needed a sympathetic ear. Kelly could listen, but he already knew he wouldn’t have any advice. If their situations were reversed, Kelly would be freaking out right now, like his entire world was falling apart. Obviously William felt the same.

Once they were in Kelly’s room, he shut the door behind them, wondering if he should have headed to the kitchen first. “Are you hungry?” he asked. “Or thirsty? We have—”

He was turning when William’s lips mashed into his. Kelly needed little time to recover. He rested his back against the door as William kissed him and pressed their bodies together. This was nothing new. They had kissed in every way possible in marathon make-out sessions that left Kelly aching with desire. William always retreated in the end, not quite ready. Except now, he didn’t let up. He pawed at the wall next to Kelly’s head until he found the light switch. Then the room went dark, except for the cold glow of the computer monitor.

William dragged him backward toward the bed, and once there, he sat on the mattress and started working on Kelly’s belt. And although Kelly had been fantasizing about this moment for weeks, he forced himself to pull away.

“Hold on,” he said. “Is this what I think it is?”

William nodded, looking hungry.

“Okay,” Kelly said. “Uh, just give me a second.”

William crawled backward onto the bed, a thick bulge in his jeans. Kelly wanted nothing more than to unwrap it and— Wait, that wasn’t true. He wanted one thing more or he’d be tearing open a denim flap right now. Forcing himself to concentrate, he went to the desk and fetched a lighter from one of the drawers. Then he walked around the room, lighting candles that were normally nothing more than decoration. Once this was completed, he returned to the desk and shut off the monitor. Now the room was cast in warmer light. He was wondering if he should put on some music, just in case they were overheard, when William spoke.

“Kelly. Please.”

He glanced toward the bed. Nothing had changed. William’s expression still spoke of pure need. Kelly had waited so long for this, but with the moment now here, he didn’t want to rush it. He wanted to spend the entire night slowly undressing each other, savoring every inch of skin as it was revealed. With this idea in mind, he went to the end of the bed and knelt down.

“Shoes,” he said, reaching for the laces.

“Oh,” William said. “Sorry.”

“Let me.” Kelly untied and loosened both sets of laces before pulling off the shoes simultaneously. Then he removed his own before hobbling into bed on his knees. William pushed himself upright into the same position. They met in the middle, William’s lips on his, hands reaching for the hem of Kelly’s shirt. He allowed William to pull it off before returning the favor. Then they looked at each other, which was silly considering how often they’d been bare-chested together at the pool. Still, here in the candlelight, the shadows subtly moving across every curve, their bodies were made new again.

William was first to reach out, placing a palm flat against Kelly’s chest before sliding it across to his ribs and down to his hips. Kelly shivered, letting the tips of his fingers touch William’s nipples and quietly laughing with him when he reacted like it tickled. Then he allowed himself to feel those pecs with both hands. He had never understood when Jared used to point out big breasts at the mall. For Kelly they held no appeal, but here, faced with William’s enviable physique, he understood. He wanted to stare at those pecs, to trace the outline of each. And he wanted to feel them pressed against his bare skin, so he brought their bodies close enough to do so. William wrapped his arms around Kelly and started kissing his neck, one hand supporting the back of his head, the other grabbing his ass and pulling him even closer.

Close enough that their crotches rubbed together, both radiating with heat. Kelly couldn’t wait anymore.

“Lie on your back,” he said.

William shook his head. Then, muscles tightening around him, Kelly found himself being flung onto the mattress. Now he was on
his
back, William huffing as he looked Kelly’s body over. His attention settled on one spot, so Kelly flexed, his cock pressing against his jeans as if begging to get out. William took this as his cue, reaching again for Kelly’s belt. No holding back. Once the leather was unbuckled and the jeans were unbuttoned, he grabbed the waistline—underwear included— and pulled down.

Kelly ignored his own nudity and watched William’s expression instead. Hopefully he wasn’t expecting certain stereotypes to be true, although Kelly felt fairly good about what he had. His cock was long and narrow. A previous boyfriend had nicknamed it The Lance. Kelly tended to be a little longer than most guys he’d been with, but it could be that William was expecting something huge, like a zucchini on steroids. Or maybe not, since he was practically drooling as he stared.

“You can do more than just look at it,” Kelly suggested with a smirk.

William pulled his eyes away. “Naw, I’m done. This is as far as I want to go.” Then he laughed at Kelly’s expression. “Want to see mine?”

Kelly nodded eagerly. “Show me what you’ve got, white boy.”

It must be something good, because William didn’t look at all insecure. In fact, he appeared smug as he unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans. William was more careful with his own clothing, tugging down the jeans first so that the meaty outline of his cock could be seen straining against his cotton underwear. Hooking both thumbs in the elastic band, he playfully wiggled the fabric, lowering it a smidgeon at a time. Eventually there wasn’t enough material left to contain him, and his cock flopped out completely. He was every bit as long as Kelly, but thick too. Just like the rest of him really—one more pale muscle to complement the rest.

“Bring that thing here,” Kelly pleaded.

William hobbled forward on his knees. The second he was close enough, Kelly reached out his tongue to tease the head. William moved closer, allowing him to take it in his mouth. He moaned a few times, thrusting some, but mostly he didn’t need to because Kelly was doing all the work. Then he pulled back suddenly.

“Uh,” he said, cheeks flushing.

“Close already?” Kelly asked.

William’s face grew even redder. “That’s usually not a problem.”

“I’ll take it as a compliment,” Kelly said. “Get back here.”

“No,” William said. “I want this to last.”

Then he found something else to occupy himself with. After kicking off his jeans, William lay on his side and snuggled close to Kelly, resting his head on his stomach. Of course he wasn’t interested in cuddling. Instead his head was turned downward as he traced a finger along Kelly’s dick, starting with the tip of the head and working his way down to the base. Then he took hold of it and pumped. Kelly sighed in pleasure, caressing William’s hair or reaching over to knead a strong deltoid.

William scooted down, and Kelly braced himself for teeth or gagging or a clumsy first effort. Instead he felt firm lips followed by wet warmth. William proceeded with caution, his tongue lolling against the head of his cock, or twirling around it like a French kiss. Then those lips would come together, massaging, pressing, caressing.

Competing desires coursed through Kelly. He wanted to pull William up, to kiss him for real as their bodies lurched against each other. He wanted William in his mouth again. He wanted William inside of him in other ways too. Instead he gave in to the pleasure, writhing on his back as William experimented, using his hand or taking Kelly as deep into his mouth as he could manage. Now it was Kelly who needed to pull away. He whispered a warning that William should stop, but this only seemed to encourage him. And why not? Kelly remembered his first time, how what he wanted most was to make another man come. If that was William’s wish, it was all too easy to grant. One more final warning and Kelly’s hips started bucking with each shot. Eventually he had to push William away because it felt too good.

William didn’t let this discourage him. He rose to his knees again, hurrying back to where he’d been before. Kelly was happy to comply. He took that fat meat in his mouth and sucked as if his life depended on it. William had one hand on the back of his head, the other on his neck. His body tensed and he started thrusting, Kelly barely managing to breathe. Then he was swallowing, not once but twice. Obviously poor William hadn’t taken care of business for a while. After some barely stifled groans, William pulled out and looked down at him with concern.

Kelly smiled reassuringly and reached out his arms. William eagerly fell into them, pulling Kelly as close as possible and holding him there. His breathing evened out, enough that he seemed to have fallen asleep. Eventually he released Kelly and propped himself up on one elbow. His features were sad as his eyes travelled over Kelly’s naked body.

“We won’t fall apart,” William whispered. “Promise me.”

“We won’t,” Kelly said. “I know we won’t.”

William exhaled through his nose. “You sound so certain.”

“Because I love you.” The feeling welled up inside of Kelly. “I love you and I’ll never stop. That’s all it takes.”

William studied his face a moment before he nodded. Then he settled back down, pulling Kelly close so they were spooning against each other. His breathing deepened, the breaths further and further apart, but before he fell asleep completely, he murmured something into Kelly’s ear.

“I love you too.”

Kelly awoke the next morning, surprised to find William’s arms still around him. Somewhere in the night they must have gotten cold, because they were under the blankets. He remembered stirring a few times, not used to having someone in bed so determined to hold him. He wondered if William would always be like this, or if it was an expression of his anxiety over crumbling relationships.

Kelly remained motionless with his eyes open, trying to figure out how to politely disentangle himself, when he decided to simply enjoy the sensation. He’d stay in bed until William was ready to get up. At least that was the plan. When Kelly heard the front door open and close a few times, he realized one of his parents must have noticed the extra car in the driveway.

He quickly squirmed out of William’s embrace, waking him in the process. Kelly was throwing on yesterday’s clothes when murmured words asked him what he was doing.

“Stay here,” he answered. “I need to talk to my parents.”

William sighed in response, perhaps remembering what had happened with his own. Kelly didn’t have time to comfort him. The last thing he wanted was his mom or dad to knock on the door and see a naked man over his shoulder. He glanced back longingly on the way out, William covering his head with his arm before thinking better and using a pillow instead.

Kelly met his mother as she was coming up the stairs. The question she asked was so obvious that he almost mouthed along with her.

“Why is William’s car in the driveway?”

“He spent the night.” Before she could react, he added in a whisper. “His parents are getting a divorce.”

“Oh, that’s terrible!” She looked past him at the bedroom door. “Does his mother know where he is? She’ll be worried sick.”

“I’ll make sure he calls her.”

“Good. The poor thing. He must have gotten here late.”

“Yeah. His dad took off yesterday, and William was with his mom most of the night, trying to comfort her.”

“And then it was your turn,” Laisha said, her tones sympathetic. “How is he?”

Kelly kept his answer simple. “Better.”

“Do you think he’d like an omelet?”

Kelly grinned. “I’m sure he would, but you better make double for him. Wait until you see him eat. It’s scary.”

“I remember from your birthday!” She spared him another worried glance before turning to head back down the stairs.

“Mom,” Kelly said to stop her. He checked that his bedroom door was still closed. “You and Dad are okay, right? You’d tell me if something was wrong?”

His mother looked up at him solemnly. “Honey, quite a few marriages fail. That’s a sad fact. But your father and me, we’re forever.”

He smiled in response, then watched her mosey down the stairs.

Forever.
She made it sound so beautiful, so possible. As he headed back to his bedroom to rouse a grumbling lump from sleep, he prayed that it was.

Accompanying William back to his house had seemed like a good idea at the time. Kelly wanted to show his support, and for William to see that he’d be there for him through thick and thin. What Kelly hadn’t counted on was how stifling the environment would be. The home had always felt so cozy before, in a cluttered sort of way. Now—while there was no sign that Mr. Townson had taken anything with him—an absence hung in the air. Something was missing. Kelly felt he would have noticed, even if he hadn’t known the truth.

Mrs. Townson was in the kitchen, making cookies while Christmas music played in the background, but the most wonderful time of the year felt anything but. She greeted her son with a hug, as she always did, thanking him for his text message. Then William announced his intent to shower and get changed. Kelly’s instinct was to follow him up the stairs, but William had other plans.

“What’s she going to think if I’m in the shower and you’re upstairs with me?” he said in hushed tones.