Personal Challenges Read online

  Angelo chuckled. “I thought you liked my five o’clock shadow. I thought it made me look… dangerous.”

  Rick laughed. “I never said dangerous, I just said it made you look like the Mafia.” He cupped Angelo’s cheek. “You don’t have to tell me what she wanted. I can guess.”

  Angelo’s heavy sigh tore at his heart. “If I had the guts, I’d tell her we were going to elope.”

  Rick widened his eyes. “Oh no, you don’t. I have friends and family who would kill us if we did that. My side of the church might end up being less populated than yours, but there are loads of people that I want to share our day with. Don’t let’s deprive them just because your mum wants to put on a three-ring circus.”

  Angelo’s heady groan rolled out of him. “Don’t say that. I don’t want that any more than you do.” Rick caught the edge of pain to his voice and knew its source, even if Angelo didn’t come right out and say it.

  He shifted again until he was sitting astride Angelo’s lap, holding Angelo’s face in his hands. Rick gazed into those coal-dark eyes. “I know you miss him.” The last four years or so had seen a thawing in Vittorio, something neither of them had foreseen. Perhaps it had been down to nearly losing his son because of hate that had brought about the beginnings of change in him. Whatever the reason, the two men had gotten along so much better during the last year of Vittorio’s life.

  “I thought he’d be there at the wedding,” Angelo whispered, his voice cracking slightly. “I still can’t believe he’s gone. I wanted more time with him.”

  Rick nodded, not breaking eye contact. “I know, babe. And part of me believes he’ll be watching you walk down the aisle on that day—whenever it is.”

  Angelo huffed. “If there is an aisle. And at the rate we’re going, I’ll be tootling along it in a mobility scooter.”

  Rick snorted. “Seriously? If I’d known you were this much of an exaggerator…” He grinned. “Now I understand why you told me your dick was eleven inches when we first met.”

  Angelo gaped. “I never said that. You—” He snapped his mouth shut at the sight of Rick laughing. Finally he smiled. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”

  Rick gave him as innocent a look as he could muster. “Maybe.” He leaned in and kissed Angelo on the mouth, savouring the warmth of his lips. When Angelo relaxed beneath him, Rick broke the kiss and sat upright, still straddling Angelo’s lap. “To quote from one of your mum’s favourite films: ‘Everything will be all right in the end. So if it’s not all right, it’s not yet the end.’”

  “You can see an end to all this?” Angelo asked him incredulously.

  “Not yet,” Rick admitted. “Maybe it’s going to require some drastic action on our part to move things along the way we want, but we will get there, I promise you,” he whispered, before kissing Angelo again.

  Angelo sighed into the kiss, his arms coming around Rick to hold him, hands stroking up and down his back. Rick hummed with happiness. Here was his Angelo, his man.

  Angelo murmured against his lips, “How long has it been?”

  Rick knew instantly to what he referred. “Since we made love? A week.” One long, long week.

  “I’m sorry.” Angelo curved his palm around Rick’s cheek. “I’ve let things get on top of me, haven’t I?”

  “Well, we can soon change that.” Rick smiled. “You could get on top of me.”

  Angelo stilled. “You want me to ride you?”

  Rick’s heart pounded at the idea. Angelo preferred to top, and Rick had no problem with that. But now and again they liked to switch things up a little, and the result was always pleasurable.

  He nodded quickly. “You ride me, I fuck you, it all works for me. Here or the bed?”

  Angelo’s only response was to lower his hands to Rick’s waist, where he slid them under Rick’s sweater. The muscles in Rick’s belly contracted when gentle fingers traced their way over his skin, edging higher. “You always feel good,” Angelo murmured. “Your skin is so soft here.”

  Rick shivered when fingers teased his nipples. “It’s a-all part of my plan, to keep you coming back for more.” Another shudder. “Just call me Cleopatra.”

  Those nimble fingers stilled and Angelo scrunched up his eyebrows. “Huh?”

  Rick grinned. “I bathe four times a day in asses’ milk when you’re not around. How else do you think I manage to keep my skin this soft?”

  Angelo laughed quietly and pulled Rick down into a kiss. “Ah, I had wondered.” He shifted position, lying down on the couch and taking Rick with him. Their kisses were tender, Angelo’s arms encircling him, both of them making low noises, hums of satisfaction. When Rick moved to straddle Angelo’s thigh and began to rock against it, the tempo changed. Angelo’s breathing hitched and he gazed up at Rick, eyes wide. “God, yes,” he whispered.

  Rick nodded and rocked harder, grinding his stiffening shaft against the firm muscles. He dropped his head to Angelo’s neck and kissed him there, moving lower while Angelo gave out low moans, his hips in motion. Rick was in heaven. He couldn’t remember the last time they’d made out like this, and he lost himself in their kisses and caresses, in the slow rock-and-roll of their bodies against each other. The kisses deepened and then it seemed like their hands were all over each other as Rick dry-humped Angelo’s thigh. He tried to slow things down but once his lips met Angelo’s throat, he gave in to the rising tide of urgent passion and sucked on his skin, loving how Angelo’s moans intensified. Then it was his turn to moan as Angelo kissed his ear, biting gently and tugging on the delicate shell of flesh until Rick was writhing on top of him, his dick harder now, aching as it met with Angelo’s equally solid length.

  Their eyes met and both of them drew in long breaths.

  “I want this to last,” Angelo said fervently, one hand stroking the back of Rick’s head, the other on his chest.

  “Me too,” Rick acknowledged. He slipped his hands underneath the soft wool of Angelo’s sweater and sighed with pleasure at the feel of the familiar mat of hair that covered his lover. “Don’t ever, ever think of shaving this all off, do you hear me?”

  Angelo laughed softly. “I should think that would be grounds for divorce.”

  “Too right.” Rick meant it. He loved Angelo’s body hair, loved its texture, especially when he rubbed his face against it.

  It wasn’t enough.

  “Need more skin,” he ground out, before tugging at the offending garment, pulling it up and freeing Angelo’s head. Then he was back in Angelo’s arms, fingers kneading the firm, furry pecs and brushing over the taut nubs that stood proud.

  “My turn.” Angelo grabbed hold of Rick’s sweater and pulled it off in one movement. Their bare chests met, launching a whole new flurry of kissing and touching. Rick couldn’t get enough of Angelo’s kisses. By then it was the turn of Angelo’s jeans to cause offense. Rick unbuttoned Angelo’s fly and tugged the jeans roughly over his hips, leaving his briefs in place.

  Not for long. The sight of the damp cotton clinging to Angelo’s very erect cock was too much to bear, and Rick removed them, his nostrils flaring as he caught his lover’s scent, rich and raw. Angelo’s dick stood up, begging for attention, and Rick gave it willingly. He licked a slow line from Angelo’s balls to his slit, loving how Angelo shuddered.

  Rick paused in his erotic task and met Angelo’s gaze. “Fucking love your cock.” He took it deep, sliding his lips down toward the root. When Angelo’s grunt of pleasure reverberated through him, Rick smiled around a mouthful of dick and brought his hand into play, working the solid shaft, the skin like hot silk over a granite core. When Angelo reached for Rick’s zipper, pulling impatiently on it between groans and sighs, Rick knew his lover wanted—no, needed—Rick inside him.

  Angelo sat up, naked, and Rick balanced himself, hand on the back of the couch, while Angelo undressed him. Then Rick found himself pushed into a sitting position while Angelo lay on his belly, mouth poised above Rick’s cock that jerked and twitch
ed as though eager for what was coming.

  Rick pushed out a long breath as Angelo took him deep. When he caught his breath, he gave a low groan. “That’s it. Get it nice and hard and wet.”

  Angelo moaned around it, the sounds increasing in volume when Rick leaned over to push his fingers between Angelo’s furry arse cheeks and rub his thumb over his hole. Angelo pushed up with his hips, plainly wanting more.

  Rick chuckled. “You keep your mind on your job, getting my dick rock hard to slide into this tight arse.” When Angelo groaned loudly, Rick rubbed down his back toward those firm round globes. “Yeah, you like it when I talk dirty, don’t you?” Ten years together meant he knew all of Angelo’s hot buttons.

  Angelo hummed around his cock and began bobbing his head faster, pausing now and then to suck at the rigid shaft, working it with his fingers and reaching lower to cup and gently squeeze Angelo’s balls. Rick forgot about pleasuring Angelo’s hole and threw his head back against the seat cushion, eyes closed, thrusting up into that wonderful mouth. When his need was white-hot, he tugged Angelo into a kneeling position and kissed him, tongue going deep.

  “Now,” Angelo gasped when Rick came up for air. “Fuck me now.”

  Rick chuckled against his lips. “Lube?”

  Angelo smiled. “The bottle in the coffee table drawer had run out, so I replaced it this morning.”

  Rick got up and moved to kneel behind him on the couch. He curved his body to Angelo’s back, his rock hard cock pressed into his crack, and kissed the back of Angelo’s neck, knowing it would drive his lover nuts. “Gotta love a man who thinks ahead.” He chuckled against the warm skin. “Or should that be thinks with his head? One of them, at any rate.”

  Angelo lowered his head and groaned. “Will you just hurry the fuck up and fuck me?” He stretched out his hand toward the coffee table and retrieved the lube, thrusting it into Rick’s hand. “Here. Okay?” He opened it one-handed. “And don’t bother with fingers. I want to feel the burn.”

  Rick laughed and rocked harder, Angelo’s body moving with him. He stopped long enough to slick up his bare dick, then he slowly pressed the head against Angelo’s hot hole, taking his time to ease the thick shaft into his tight channel. When he was fully seated, his cock buried to the hilt inside Angelo’s body, Rick let out a heartfelt sigh. It had been way too long.

  Angelo grabbed Rick’s hand and pulled it to his lips, kissing his fingertips. “I love you,” he whispered.

  “Love you too,” Rick returned, before beginning to move leisurely, withdrawing nearly all the way out of him and then sliding his dick back in like they had all the time in the world.

  “Oh, God, yeah, just like that,” Angelo moaned. “Fuck, Rick, that’s… ”

  Rick said nothing but kissed Angelo’s shoulders and back, his hips rocking slowly as he made love to him. “This is what we both needed,” he whispered. “Slow, sweet lovemaking. Save the hard, fast fucks for another time.” God, it was heaven inside him, hot, tight heaven that gripped Rick’s shaft and sucked him in, Angelo’s body wrapped around him.

  Angelo twisted to turn his face toward Rick’s and they kissed, Rick’s tongue keeping the same unhurried pace as his cock. Angelo sighed into the kiss, before lowering his head to the cushion and tilting his arse higher in offering.

  Rick knew what that meant. He covered Angelo’s body with his own and kissed his neck while he started to thrust harder, deeper, hips getting into a rhythm as they slammed into Angelo’s firm arse. He wrapped his arms around Angelo and held him close while he drove his dick into him, their mouths meeting in kisses that grew more heated.

  “Oh, yeah.” Angelo shifted onto his side and Rick slid in behind him, spooning around him. He hooked his arm under Angelo’s knee and stroked his chest, their lips reconnecting as he continued to thrust into that tight body. When he curled his fingers around Angelo’s rigid cock, Angelo responded instantly by pushing through his fist, shaft slick from the steady stream of precome that fell from his slit.

  Their eyes met. “Love you so much.” The words weren’t nearly enough to convey what lay in Rick’s heart, but they would have to do.

  “Love you,” Angelo gasped, rolling onto his back and bringing his legs up to wrap them around Rick’s waist. Rick knew the signs: it was their favourite position for orgasm. Angelo cupped the back of Rick’s head and kissed him as Rick began to thrust hard, slamming into him, hips pistoning as he drove his dick all the way inside Angelo.

  “Don’t stop,” Angelo begged, his hand jerking his cock faster, his body trembling.

  “Not stopping until we both come,” Rick panted, picking up speed.

  Seconds later Angelo arched his back as come shot over his belly, his mouth wide in a silent cry. Rick lost himself for a moment in the beauty of Angelo overcome by his climax, but then Angelo’s internal muscles clamped down on Rick’s cock and he too shot his load.

  “Love that feeling,” Angelo stammered out, “the way your dick throbs when you come inside me. I’ll never get enough of that.”

  Rick fought to get his breath back, his body jolted as wave upon wave of pleasure crashed over him, pulsing through him and leaving him shaking. He lay on top of Angelo, stroking his shoulder and face as he kissed him, unwilling to break their connection. When his heartbeat had returned to somewhere near normal, Rick raised his chin and looked Angelo in the eye.

  “And I’ll never get enough of making love with you.” He kissed Angelo’s forehead. Both of them sighed as he eased his softened cock from Angelo’s body and rested his head on Angelo’s shoulder. They lay like that for several minutes, the ticking of the clock the only sound.

  “This wasn’t quite what I had in mind for this evening,” Rick murmured against Angelo’s chest, his fingers tugging gently at the abundant hair there.

  Angelo snickered. “Oh? What did you have planned?”

  “Us on the couch, drinking wine and watching a DVD.”

  Angelo chuckled. “Well, we’re on the couch, aren’t we?”

  Rick laughed at that. “Yup. And at least we got to mess around, which is more than Ed and Colin will get to do tonight.” Suddenly it dawned on him. “Shit! I forgot to tell you. The baby finally put in an appearance.”

  Angelo burst into laughter. “And I get to hear about this now?”

  “What do you expect? You distracted me. Anyway, everything’s wonderful, the baby is healthy, Donna is fine, and Ed and Colin took Sophie for the night so those two could have a night to themselves.” He snuggled into Angelo’s arms. “See? I knew it was the right thing to leave the hospital when we did. Otherwise one of us might have suggested minding her, and then we wouldn’t have got to do this.”

  “This,” Angelo said, before kissing him on top of his head, “was wonderful. Not sure I feel like watching TV though.”

  Rick slid his hand between their sticky bodies and wrapped it around Angelo’s flaccid cock. “Well, how about we snuggle under the duvet? I’m sure we’ll think of something to do.”

  Angelo’s shiver told him all he needed to know.

  Chapter Three

  “Colin, there’s a call come through for you. I told him you were on your lunch, but he’s fairly insistent.”

  Colin took one glance at his bowl of mushroom soup and sighed. “Does he have a name?” It had been a busy morning. Two of the architects were on his back, demanding to know why their designs weren’t in their inboxes now. The urge to retort that he wasn’t a miracle worker had been right there… Even he couldn’t conjure up CAD models when he’d only had the designs for three hours. Fortunately he was always someone who put his brain into gear before putting his mouth into action. He’d done his best to soothe their entitled feathers, but as soon as the calls had finished, he’d put an e-mail together for the senior partners.

  Colin believed in covering his back, especially where prima donnas were concerned.

  Marion laughed. “Sorry. I should have said that first. My mind’s all over the place th
is morning.”

  “Hmm. I wonder why.” He smiled to himself. The company’s receptionist had arrived at work that morning buzzing with news: her boyfriend had proposed to her the previous day.

  Well, he chose the right day for it. Most of Colin’s Valentine’s Day had been spent playing with a four-year-old, not that he’d minded. Except now he had a better understanding of why Ed referred to Sophie as the Cyclone. She appeared to possess boundless energy and the capacity to turn a tidy room into the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust.

  No wonder Ed was always too tired for sex after babysitting Sophie for the night.

  Marion giggled, pulling him back into the present. “Anyway, his name is Ray Tranter.”

  For a moment Colin was confused. Her fiancé is called Ray Tranter? What a coincidence. Colin’s first serious relationship had been with a guy of that name. Then it sank in, and he was shocked into silence. Ray? Ray is calling me? What the hell?

  It had to be getting on for thirteen years since they’d last spoken.

  “Colin? Are you still there?”

  He pulled himself together. “Yeah, sorry about that. Sure, put him through.” Colin thought quickly over the last years. There’d been very little in the way of communication between them, apart from the Christmas cards they exchanged every year, and even they’d contained little more than a couple of lines. Colin assumed by the postmarks that Ray was still lecturing in Edinburgh, the job he’d left Manchester for all those years ago.

  A few lines every December. Not much to show for three years of being together, but after the way Ray had left, Colin was thankful to receive anything.

  I wonder if he’s changed much? Thirteen years wasn’t that long, but then Colin didn’t recognize the man in his own mirror sometimes. Playing rugby had given him a lot more muscle than he’d had as a student.

  “Colin?” Ray’s voice was deeper, rougher, like he smoked a pack a day, but it was definitely him. That gravelly voice was burned into Colin’s memory. I could listen to him talk for hours back then.