Personal Challenges Page 5

  When he came, he arched up and shot his load deep inside Colin, his dick buried all the way. Colin shuddered above him, each shiver coinciding with every throb of Ed’s cock, every pulse of come that filled him. It wasn’t long before he came, warmth spattering Ed’s belly. Ed clung to him until his heart stopped hammering and Colin lay in his arms, both of them damp with sweat, the air thick with sex and spunk, both of their dicks limp and sticky.

  “Way better than porn any day,” Ed said, stroking his fingers over Colin’s hair.

  Colin lifted his chin and smiled. “I’ll second that.” He kissed Ed lightly on the lips. “And you are just as hot and sexy as you were that first time, do you know that?”

  Ed gazed into pale blue eyes. “You can talk. Sexiest fucker I ever met.” He kissed him, taking his time, loving how Colin melted into the kiss. “An’ I could still kiss you all night long.”

  Colin shifted against him with a grimace. “Maybe after we’ve showered?”

  Ed chuckled. “You’re on. Cleanliness is next to godliness an’ all that. An’ after all, I am a God. You said so.” With a smug smile he dived off the bed, Colin in hot pursuit.

  I love my life.

  Chapter Four

  March 5th

  Will opened the front door and beamed when he saw who stood there. “Hey, we were beginning to think you weren’t coming.” He stepped aside to let Dave, Lizzie and their two children enter the hall. A quick peek at the driveway and the street beyond was enough to tell him parking space was in short supply. Our new neighbours are going to be severely pissed off. He did a rapid count up in his head, trying to work out who, if anyone, was left to arrive.

  “Yeah, sorry we’re late,” Dave said earnestly. “Only someone couldn’t find his puppy, and we couldn’t leave the house without it.”

  Before Will could respond, Justin flung his arms around Will’s legs and hugged him so tightly, he nearly toppled over onto the hall rug. “Uncle Will!”

  Will bent down and scooped up his godson. “Hey, you get bigger every time I see you! How old are you now? Four?” He grinned and silently counted to three before Justin’s eyes widened and his mouth fell open to protest.

  “I’m five, Uncle Will! I go to school now with Molly.”

  “Yeah, and he’s a pain.” Molly was a very superior seven-year-old, and from all accounts was highly intelligent. She clutched a brightly wrapped parcel. “Is Nathan here?”

  Will smiled. “Of course he’s here. It’s his welcome party.” Well, it was partly a ‘Come and meet Nathan’ and an ‘Okay, so we’ve left it this long to throw a housewarming party’ get-together. They’d bought the house just before Christmas, and it had been a mad dash to get everything the way they wanted it in time for Nathan’s birth. The housewarming had been forgotten in the rush. “Is that a present for Nathan?”

  Molly beamed. “Yes. I chose it myself.”

  “Well, if you go through this door behind me, you’ll find Uncle Blake. Sophie and Nathan are there too.”

  “Yay!” Molly scooted off through the door.

  Justin brandished a scruffy brown soft dachshund under Will’s nose. “And see? I found Nounou. He was hiding under the bed the whole time.”

  Lizzie sighed. “Yes, imagine that.” She glanced at her husband with a half-smile. “And Daddy was very good to get down and crawl under there to catch Nounou, wasn’t he?”

  Will bit his lip. “I hope there weren’t too many dust bunnies under there.” In his arms, Justin looped his arm around Will’s neck and gave Dave an adoring look. Will chuckled. “Because we all know who cleans the house when Mummy is at work.” Lizzie had only recently returned to full-time work with Trinity, now that both kids were in school and Dave had taken on more of the housework, including doing the shopping and picking up the kids.

  Dave scowled. “Enough to have me sneezing within seconds,” he muttered. The expression was momentary, however, and he reached out to ruffle Justin’s forever unruly curls, before gazing hopefully in the direction of the lounge. “Tell me there’s alcohol in there.”

  Will laughed and glanced at Lizzie. “I see you drew the short straw tonight, Mrs Designated Driver.”

  “Not exactly.” There was less of the Belgian accent that Will recalled from ten years ago when he’d first worked at Trinity Publishing. Something about Lizzie’s smile and the sparkle in her eye caught his interest, and he peered closely at her. Lizzie blushed. “I’m not drinking because it’s not good for the baby.”

  Will put down Justin and threw his arms wide for a hug. “Oh, that’s marvellous news! Congratulations!” He held her carefully and kissed each cheek. “When are you due?”

  “September. I saw the doctor yesterday who confirmed it. I was going to talk with Ed after this weekend.” Lizzie smiled. “I guess that’s one thing I can cross off my list.”

  Will relinquished his hold on her, and then shook Dave’s hand. “This is all part of a plan, isn’t it? You tired of being a house husband already?” He quickly reckoned up in his head how old Lizzie was. Almost the same age as Donna. For a moment, concern for her flared up. “Was this planned?”

  Dave shook his head. “To be honest, it was a bit of a surprise. Once we’d gotten over the shock, we started getting excited. And the kids, well, they’re ecstatic.”

  “Before you ask, this will be the last one,” Lizzie said quietly. “That was one of the things we discussed with the doctor. She was keen to point out that pregnancies are more risky once you’re my age.” She locked gazes with Will. “And don’t tell me you weren’t thinking about that, because I know you too well, Will Davis.”

  Will smiled. “If you’re both happy, that’s the main thing. Can’t blame me for worrying a little, right?”

  Lizzie impulsively kissed him on the cheek. “Sweet man.”

  “Give me your coats, and then go on in.” He helped them out of their coats before ushering them through into the large lounge where most of the guests had already gathered. Once he’d deposited the coats in the cloakroom, he followed Dave, Lizzie and Justin.

  Music played quietly, and the air was filled with a blend of piano and voices. The party had the feel of a family gathering, which Will supposed was pretty close to the truth. Most of the guests worked at Trinity publishing, and had been there when Will had joined the company. Donna was there too, along with her two children, sitting on the couch with Blake at one end, holding Nathan in his arms. Sophie, Justin and Molly were standing around him, smiling at the baby. Molly held up a soft toy bear, waving it in front of Nathan’s face.

  Will had to smile at that. Nathan’s room was already full of all manner of soft toys. Sophie had taken it into her head that Nathan would be lonely on his own, so she’d carried all her old toys in there and arranged them around Nathan’s cot.

  He circulated around the room, refilling glasses and directing guests toward the table that was covered in plates and bowls of party food. Blake caught his gaze and inclined his head toward the empty glass on the small table beside him. Will grinned and hastened to fill it with orange juice. He gazed down at their son, so peaceful, oblivious to the noise and bustle around him.

  Blake chuckled. “He’s going to be a contrary one, all right. He sleeps through this, but can’t seem to spend more than two consecutive hours asleep during the night?”

  Will leaned down and kissed Blake on the mouth. “You know it won’t always be like this. Remember how Sophie was?”

  “Sophie slept more, I’m sure of it,” Blake grumbled.

  “Let me refill some of the dishes, and then I’ll be here to take over for a while.” He gestured toward Lizzie, who was on the receiving end of a very enthusiastic hug from Beth. “And you need to talk to Dave and Lizzie.”

  Blake frowned for a second, and then his eyes widened. “I think I know what they’re going to tell me, judging by the look on Beth’s face.” He shook his head and gazed at Nathan. “Looks like you have another playmate coming your way,” he whispered
.

  “Yeah, and Ed is going to be pissed. It isn’t all that long since he got her back to work.” Will straightened. “I’ll be back.” After a glance around the room to make sure nothing was needed urgently, he went into the kitchen and began pulling covered dishes from the fridge.

  “So, you two gettin’ any sleep?” Ed stood in the doorway, a glass of wine in his hand.

  Will snorted. “Yeah, right. If we’re not waking up to feed him, he’s waking us up with his crying. I don’t think either of us has had a full night’s sleep since we brought him home from the hospital.” He sighed. “Thank God the sleepless nights don’t last forever. Blake’s right. I seem to remember having more sleep than this when Sophie was born.”

  “I guess me askin’ if you’re gettin’ any writin’ done would be a bleedin’ waste of time then,” Ed said with a chuckle.

  Will coughed. “Language, Uncle Ed. Little ears pick up everything, even at this distance, believe me. I will never forget the day Sophie told her nursery school teacher that she didn’t like it when Daddy and Papa played ‘growly bear’ in bed. Or how about the time she told her nursery friend that she’d seen Daddy and Papa hugging and bouncing.”

  Ed choked on his wine. “Oops. Did we forget to lock the door?”

  Will grimaced. “The door didn’t have a lock on it at that point. You’d better believe it does now. But my God, Ed, the things she says. I meant it about her hearing everything. Blake mentioned his package one time, thinking she was out of earshot. Thing was, he cupped it too. So you can imagine how I felt when Sophie asked me over breakfast one morning if Papa’s package was his stick and two berries.”

  Ed gaped. “Oh my Gawd. What did you say?”

  Will gave him a sweet smile. “That was the day Sophie learned that the correct terms were ‘penis’ and ‘testicles.’ We thought treating her like an adult was the way to go. Except it backfired, of course. We were out walking last summer in the countryside, and a horse trotted past us. Sophie pointed at it and said in that loud voice all kids seem to possess when they’re embarrassing the hell out of their parents, ‘Oh, Daddy, look at that horse’s big penis!’ I didn’t know where to look.”

  By now, Ed was laughing so hard, he almost dropped his wine glass. Will waited until he had control of himself, one eye trained warily on the glass.

  “Don’t think I ’aven’t noticed ’ow you dodged the question about your writin’,” Ed said at last.

  Will did an eye roll. “Well, it was a dumb question, given the circumstances. I mean, come on, a new baby in the house? When do you imagine I find time to write?”

  “Okay, fair point, keep yer ’air on. Can I give you an ’and with anythin’?” Ed grinned. “Or I could get Col to ’elp. He’s well trained.”

  Will arched his eyebrows. “Lucky you. And no, I’ve got this, thanks. Just going to take these two plates through.” Ed got out of his way and Will walked back into the lounge, heading for the food table. He removed the empty plates and took them to the kitchen. When he returned, he found Ed and Colin standing together, their focus on Blake, Sophie and the baby.

  Will followed their gaze, staring at his husband, daughter and son, his heart swelling with love. “Look at them, Ed,” he said softly. “My family.”

  “Something I’ve always meant to ask you,” Ed said in a low voice. “I know your ’istory, how your parents threw you out when you were still in your teens, how you lived, how that bloke Richard gave you an ’ome… What made you go down the surrogacy route, rather than adoption? ’Cause I’d ’ave thought you’d want to give some poor kid an ’ome, like Richard did for you. You know, give back a little.”

  Will turned to face him. To his surprise, hot tears welled up in his eyes, and he quickly wiped them away with his hand. “That’s why a huge chunk of my royalties go to places like the one where I lived. That’s how I give back. But we did discuss it, years ago. It was obvious from the start that we both wanted our children to be just that—ours. Not that Blake was opposed to either option, really. I was the one who pushed for the surrogacy route.”

  At that moment Blake looked up and their gazes met. Your turn? he mouthed.

  Will nodded. He patted Ed on the arm and gave Colin a quick smile. “If you’ll excuse me?”

  Colin returned his smile. “Like I don’t know what you’re about to do.”

  Will laughed and walked over to the couch. “I thought you’d never ask.”

  Blake rose carefully to his feet and eased Nathan into Will’s waiting arms. He stood beside Will, both of them gazing at the little baby boy who incredibly was still fast asleep. “Isn’t he beautiful?”

  Will leaned over and kissed Blake’s cheek. “Nearly as beautiful as his Papa. Now go mingle.” He sat down gingerly, his arms full of their precious cargo. Donna leaned closer.

  “Blake’s right, you know. He’s a totally gorgeous baby, and if you’d seen my two when they were that age, you’d know I don’t say that for the sake of it.” Gently she stroked the down on top of Nathan’s head. “He’s absolutely perfect.”

  Will gazed in adoration at his son. Then he lifted his chin and grinned. “What a pity they have to grow up, right?”

  She snorted. “Tell me about it. Mine are just into their teens. You know what advice my mum gave me when my first, Jeremy, arrived? She said, ‘all babies should be raised in a barrel, with just a hole for feeding them through. But then they become teenagers? Stop up the hole.’”

  Will gasped. “She sounds a right old barrel of laughs, pardon my pun.”

  Just then Nathan stirred, his eyes fluttering open. Will traced his warm cheek with a finger, his heart melting at the sight.

  You are going to have so much love, little man.

  * * * * * *

  It had been far too long since they’d thrown a party, Blake decided. This one had all the hallmarks of being a success. Their guests appeared relaxed and happy, there was no shortage of drinks, alcoholic or otherwise, and between him and Will, they kept the food coming. Once everyone had finished cooing over Nathan, Blake had taken him upstairs to his cot, and the baby monitor was switched on.

  Sophie was yawning by nine o’clock. Will had promised she could stay up as long as she remained awake, but Blake knew it wouldn’t be long before his little girl would be curling up on the couch. She could be as stubborn as Will, however, and Blake could see she was trying valiantly to keep her eyes open.

  He glanced around the room and realized he was missing a couple of guests. Blake slipped from the lounge and went along the hallway to the room which doubled as his office and Will’s writing cave. The faint hum of voices from beyond the door that stood ajar told him he’d found Rick and Angelo. He pushed open the door and stuck his head around it.

  Angelo was gazing at the prints Dave had done for Blake all those years ago, only now the one of him and Will hung with them, the entire wall given over to the five canvases. Only Angelo was clearly miles away. Rick sat behind him in Will’s comfy chair, staring at his laced fingers.

  “I thought at the best parties people always ended up in the kitchen,” Blake joked, entering the room.

  Both men jerked their heads in the direction of the door.

  “Sorry, Blake,” Rick apologized. “Do you want us out of here?”

  “God, no.” Blake pushed the door shut behind him and cross the floor to sit at his desk. “I was going to ask if everything was okay with you two, because you seemed so serious when I looked in.”

  Angelo sighed and Rick reached for him, pulling him closer. “We just needed a quiet place to talk, that was all.”

  Blake looked from Rick to Angelo. “What’s going on?” He kept his voice low: Nathan’s room was above the office.

  Angelo snorted. “The wedding, what else?”

  Blake folded his arms across his chest. “I’ve been meaning to call you for a while to talk about this, but lately there never seemed to be enough hours in the day. Have you actually set a date yet?”

>   Rick let out a low groan. “No.” Angelo clasped Rick’s hand in his and squeezed it.

  Blake stared at them. “What the hell?”

  “It’s all my fault,” Angelo said at last. “I’ve let this go on for too long.”

  “Your mother. We’re talking about your mother, right?”

  Angelo nodded. “We suggest a date, and then she finds a million and one excuses why that date isn’t convenient, usually due to one of the Italian families not being able to make it over to the UK for then.” Rick said nothing, but his miserable expression, drooping shoulders and distant stare spoke volumes.

  “These Italian relatives, are they close relatives?”

  Another snort. Angelo scowled. “I’ve never even met some of them.”

  Blake cleared his throat. “Okay, I don’t mean to offend you, Angelo, but who the fuck is getting married here? It’s your wedding, guys. You get the final say on who gets invited, all right?” He softened his tone. “I know your mother has been through a rough time, with your father passing, but that doesn’t mean the two of you should just roll over and do whatever she wants. This is your day we’re talking about, a day you want to remember for the rest of your lives. Invite those people you want to share it. I know you feel obliged to have the family there, but after listening to a couple of conversations on this subject, it’s obvious even to me that your family is huge, Angelo. You can’t possibly invite them all. And even if you could, you don’t organize the date according to which relatives can come and which can’t.” He gave them both a stern glance. “The tail does not wag the dog, you got that? I really think it’s time you put your collective feet down.”

  Angelo stared at him open-mouthed, and for a moment Blake was positive he’d overstepped the mark. “I’m sorry, that was rude of me. I sounded like I was your father, didn’t I? I didn’t mean to come across like I was scolding you.”

  To his relief, Angelo sagged onto the leather couch that stood under the canvases and put his head in his hands. Rick was at his side in an instant, his arm around Angelo’s shoulders. He turned his face up to meet Blake’s gaze.