Sleigh Ride (Minnesota Christmas Book 2) (16 page)

God but Arthur wanted to blow him right here, right now, snowstorm be damned. “People in small towns can be pretty close-minded, though.”

Gabriel huffed a breath through his nose. “People can be pretty close-minded, period.” He gestured out the window at the darkness. “Logan could definitely stand to admit it’s in the twenty-first century. But I’ve had less random slurs tossed at my head here than in Minneapolis. There I was just another effeminate, lanky man who clearly defaulted to geek. Here I’m the librarian who happens to be gay.” He chewed his lip. “Though I wonder how that will change, dating you.”

“Why would dating me make a difference?”

Gabriel’s smile was weary, sad. “Because right now to them I’m sexless. I know my orientation worries some people, but until today they didn’t have to think about
the gay thing
.” He tapped his leg. “Though they seem largely all right with Marcus and Frankie. Perhaps it won’t be so bad.”

Arthur hadn’t thought of that, and it bummed him out. “When I lived in Duluth, I had a harder time being told I was a dumb hick than anything else. Never to my face, which would have been okay, because I’d have decked them. No, they always said shit that would take me half an hour to figure out they’d insulted me. All these skinny, nasty gay boys gathered in snide nests smirking at me and making rude comments. After them, I knew I’d never make it in Minneapolis. I’ve gone to a few club events there, but I’m always waiting for those bastards to come out like vultures.”

“I know those men. Unfortunately I was one, though I was never very good at throwing shade.”

Arthur frowned. “Throwing what?” He had this odd image of living room lamps hurling across a club floor, but he was pretty sure that wasn’t what Gabriel had meant.

“Throwing shade. It’s a slang term for what you’re describing. Those catty insults gay men can do so well. It’s no excuse, but I can tell you they probably made fun because you scared them.”

“I certainly didn’t scare them with my height.”

“You’re burly, and you’re a loud personality. And to be honest, you remind me of the guys I grew up with.”

Arthur had a feeling that wasn’t a great recommendation. “Sorry.”

“No, it’s…” Gabriel took a moment to continue. “I’ll admit, when I was younger, the rough-and-tumble backwoods men scared me. But it wasn’t because they hurt me. It was because I knew I could never fit in. You…don’t make me feel that way.”

Arthur reached over with his right hand to grasp Gabriel’s left for as long as the road allowed him. “For the record, you make me feel like I fit in too.”

The road to his cabin was ahead, and they were both quiet as Arthur navigated the lane. Once arrived, Arthur hurried around to Gabriel’s side to help him out, taking his bags and putting an arm around his guest as he shut the door behind them and led Gabriel to the front steps.

“I keep meaning to screen in the porch.” Arthur gestured at the front of the house. “Thing is, I like the look of it open. Every summer when the mosquitoes bite me though, I change my tune.”

“You could put a back porch on, with screens.”

“I want to expand the kitchen. The cabinets are crap, which you’ll see. I have a lot of ideas, but I don’t know. Seems dumb to change it all around for one person.” He opened the door and stood to the side, motioning for Gabriel to go inside. “After you.”

The second they were inside Gabriel’s glasses fogged. Arthur helped Gabriel take them off, holding them and admiring how handsome his lover was both with and without them as Gabriel got out of his winter clothes.

“It’s charming.” Gabriel touched the walls, the support beams, his gaze flitting everywhere. “I love the open construction, all the naked wood. Thank God you didn’t cover it up with plaster.”

“Yeah.” Arthur relaxed a little. “That’s the real crux of it, about adding on. I’d want to keep using logs instead of drywall, and that’s expensive.”

“Oh, but it’s worth it.” Gabriel couldn’t seem to keep his hands off the walls. He wrinkled his nose at the kitchen. “I see what you mean about the cupboards. That’s some bad 1980s prefab.”

“Yeah, I hate the dark wood—not even real wood, just particle board. I’d like to modernize the kitchen, but it’s kind of dumb because I don’t cook much. It wasn’t worth it when Paul was here, since he doesn’t cook much either.”

Gabriel toed out of his boots and took his coat off, before wrapping his arms tight around himself. He didn’t say anything about Paul, but Arthur could tell Gabriel was thinking about him.

Arthur wanted to put him at ease, but he didn’t know how to, so he continued on with the tour. “Anyway, that’s the kitchen, such as it is. The bathroom is there by the stairs. The couch folds out, the fireplace works—TV too, when the satellite is up and going, which isn’t often in the winter. There’s a basement of sorts, a crawlspace. Washer and dryer are in the back of the kitchen there, stacked up. And then there’s the loft.” Arthur took his elbow, leading him gently toward the stairs. “Come on. You’ll enjoy the view.”

There were two windows upstairs, one on either side of the house, but the best view looked out over the northern fields. Even in the snow, it was lovely. He smiled as Gabriel caught his breath.

“That’s beautiful.” Gabriel touched the window glass. “Are we on the top of a hill?”

“Yeah, kind of.” Arthur pointed off to the distance. “That’s the mill, over there. During the day you can see the big timber behind it, but between here and there is an open field. Half the time when I get up in the middle of the night, it’s littered with deer. Sometimes moose. Occasionally I spot a bear, but not often.”

“It’s beautiful. This is perfect, Arthur.”

Arthur didn’t take his eyes off Gabriel. “Yeah. It really is.”

Gabriel met his gaze, blushed and moved farther into the loft.

“It’s not terribly big.” Arthur leaned on the pillar by the stairs. “Technically I could eat up the crawlspace behind me, but if I did that, I’d add a bathroom. It’s a pain in my butt hauling up and down the stairs, especially in the winter when it’s cold.”

Gabriel walked around the perimeter of the bed. “It’s so cozy, though. Does it stay warm?”

“Warm enough. I have a thick down comforter and several wool blankets, so it’s not bad.”

He didn’t mean it to come out as innuendo, but Gabriel blushed anyway, as if the mere presence of a bed were cause for embarrassment. Arthur hoped to hell he didn’t open the top drawer of the bureau.

“What do we do now?” Gabriel asked.

“Now I put the steaks on the grill, some potatoes in the microwave. You hop in the tub. I think there’s bubble bath in the cupboard somewhere.”

This announcement clearly both surprised and pleased Gabriel. “I
love
bubble baths. I’ve sat in a tub listening to music and reading until the water goes cold more times than I can count.”

“Well, take your book in with you. Except, wait—you only brought the electronic thing.” And damn if Arthur had a single book in the whole house.

“Oh—I take my Nook in the tub all the time. I double bag it in gallon zipper baggies.”

Arthur frowned. “Are you sure it’s okay to take into the water?”

“I doubt the manufacturers recommend it, but the one time I dropped it for a second, it was okay.”

Arthur nodded. “I’ll get you a set of bags.”

He drew Gabriel’s water himself, adding the salts and lighting the candles he dug out of the closet. He pulled up someone’s romantic music playlist on Spotify on his phone and set it on the countertop. Gabriel watched all this from the doorway, appearing both amused and moved.

Arthur smiled to himself as he heard the water splashing, the sound carrying all the way into the kitchen as he prepped the steaks and started the potatoes. Once he had them going, he heated some milk on the stove, adding the cocoa and sugar and spices. He dolloped whipped cream on top of Gabriel’s mug and added the sugar sprinkles, sticking a candy cane down the side. After fishing Gabriel’s reader out of his bag, he double-bagged it and put it on the large cutting board beside the mug. Finishing it off with a plate of cookies, he carried the whole business into the bathroom, where Gabriel lay languidly in the bubbles. He smiled shyly at Arthur as he entered, but when Arthur placed the cutting board across the tub, turning it into a tray, Gabriel sat up and gasped in delight.

“
That is brilliant.
Oh my God, that’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.”

Arthur sat on the toilet and leaned forward to brace his arms against his lap as he watched Gabriel nibble at his cookies and swipe a finger of whipped cream. “My mom used to do this for us when we were kids, especially when it was cold. She’d shove it way to the end so we could play but still have a shelf. My sister used it to prop up her book, but I used it as a diving board for my action figures.”

Gabriel splashed a bit as he sank deeper into his bubbles. Arthur could sit and look at Gabriel for hours like this, flush and happy in the tub. But that would defeat the whole point of bringing him his book. Besides, he had plenty else he needed to do.

Rising, Arthur threaded his fingers briefly through Gabriel’s curls. “Go ahead and soak. I’ll come get you when I’m ready.”

Gabriel, now submerged to his neck, raised his eyebrows over the top of his glasses. “Ready for what?”

“You’ll see.” Arthur took in Gabriel’s lanky legs folded awkwardly at the far end of the water. “You need a bigger tub.”

“Story of my life.”

Arthur winked and left him, but in his mind he mentally altered his always-planned housing remodel to include a tub big enough for Gabe to stretch out in.

With a friend.

C
hapter Seventeen

T
he book Gabriel read in the tub was a quirky little mystery whose plot he could see coming a million miles away but which relaxed him and turned off his mind the way he needed. He got so lost that not only was his water stone cold when Arthur came back to the bathroom, but Gabriel felt disoriented, as if part of him still remained in the story. Arthur chuckled as he picked up the cutting board tray. After setting it on the toilet seat, he produced a towel and held it open in front of him.

“Come on, time to get out before you turn into a prune.”

Gabriel would have thought he’d feel self-conscious being dried off by someone else, but it was oddly comforting. The only part that was weird was outside of a quick goose through the towel, Arthur didn’t make the act sexual at all. Gabriel was almost disappointed.

When he tried to get dressed, Arthur only let him put on his flannel pants. Gabriel started to complain, but when he came into the main room of the cabin, he was met with a wall of heat. The furnace had to be turned up almost to eighty, and a fire roared in the hearth.

They sat cross-legged together on the rug before said fire, where Arthur produced plates of steak and salad and potatoes, as well as bottles of cider. While they ate, Arthur told Gabriel about the sleigh.

“It’s all painted now, and looking pretty good if I do say so myself. I could give you a ride tomorrow, if you’re feeling brave.”

Gabriel paused with a forkful of steak halfway to his mouth. “I didn’t realize sleigh rides required courage.”

“Well, it turns out driving a two-thousand-pound animal with two straps of leather on a pair of metal skis is a little more difficult than you’d figure.” He took a swig of his cider. “But I’m doing better than I thought I would at this point.”

“I’d love to go,” Gabriel said.

“Then it’s settled. Maybe we’ll use the sleigh to find a tree.”

It was so cozy sitting with Arthur—cozy and gentle and soothing. While Gabriel enjoyed his solitude at home, this was good too, this light camaraderie and soft, sensual delight.

“It’s nice to have someone here,” Arthur said, as if reading Gabriel’s mind. “I’ve learned I hate living by myself.”

Gabriel pushed aside his plate and leaned into the chair behind him, cradling his cider at his leg. He felt slightly self-conscious with no shirt on, except the way Arthur openly admired him stirred an arousal that beat back awkward before it could get any purchase. “I don’t mind. It does get lonely, I suppose, but…well, I enjoy quiet. Though I wish someone would swoop in and magically do the dishes and laundry.”

Arthur reached for Gabriel’s dishes. “I’ll put these in the sink and see if a dish fairy shows up.” He winked as he rose. “You, boy, are going to snuggle with me on the couch. Naked.”

Gabriel jerked so hard he spilled a little of his cider. “What did you say?”

“You heard me.” Arthur crossed to the kitchen area, dropped off the dishes and came back. He made impatient motions at Gabriel, who still sat in shocked silence on the floor. “Come on. I’ll grab a blanket for you.”

“I don’t need a blanket when I have
pants
.”

“Yes, but you don’t need pants when you have a randy man who wants to fondle your naked body beneath a blanket while you bathe in the heat of a roaring fire.”

Put that way…

Gabriel rose unsteadily. He didn’t take off his pants, but he hooked his thumbs in the waistband. “You know, there are more delicate ways to get me naked.”

“Yes, but you wouldn’t like them as well. You kind of dig the brusque.” Arthur settled onto the couch, his body open and waiting for Gabriel to snuggle against it.
He
remained fully clothed. “Come on. Grab your reader thing, maybe, and you can read to me.”

In a daze, Gabriel complied. He fetched his Nook first, setting it on the table. He hesitated, still thrown by the abruptness of the request…and yet, as Arthur had astutely observed, it turned him on.

He slid the elastic a little ways down his hips. “If I’d have thought ahead, I’d have brought a
Tom of Finland
anthology with me. Though if I had my iPad and Wi-Fi, I could show you some superhero bondage.”

Arthur laughed. “Are you shitting me? That’s a thing?”

Gabriel paused with his pants on his hips, smiling back. “Oh yes. I have it all bookmarked.”

“Well, shit. Now I wish you had your iPad.”

“Do you have a laptop? I can remember where some of the best ones are.”

Arthur hopped off the couch and padded over to the kitchen counter. “Hell yes. Let’s see this stuff.”

Gabriel tried to climb onto the couch with him, but Arthur made him shed his pants first. Once Gabriel was naked, Arthur nestled Gabriel between his legs, draping a blanket over them both.

“I feel weird,” Gabriel said as his ass met the couch cushions, his hip on Arthur’s thigh.

Arthur stroked his arm, his leg, but never went anywhere interesting. “Don’t feel weird. It’s just me.” He pinched Gabriel’s naked flank. “Show me this superhero porn.”

Gabriel took him to a few good Tumblr sites—he suspected Arthur would enjoy the Avenger orgy, and he was correct. He showed him some prettier sites too, and then, when he got brave, some of the raunchier ones.

Arthur enjoyed them all, but when Gabriel took him to the hardcore pictures, Arthur stroked Gabriel’s back reassuringly. “You don’t have to be embarrassed, you know.”

“I know.” Gabriel scooted farther down the couch and nestled deeper against Arthur’s chest. “I just…usually don’t share this with anyone.”

“Then I feel extra special.” He kissed Gabriel’s forehead, but his hand also trailed down to Gabriel’s crack. “So what’s your favorite kink? What’s fun to look at?” His fingers grazed the globe of Gabriel’s naked ass. “What are you wishing you could try?”

He spoke so matter-of-factly, which both eased Gabriel and increased his embarrassment. “I…I like watching more than two guys together. The orgies. I enjoy reading rough stuff, but not so much looking at it. I couldn’t do any of it, though. I don’t want to. The idea is amazing, but I feel exposed enough with one person at a time.”

“You might be okay if you could trust your main sexual partner enough.” He rubbed his beard along Gabriel’s cheek. “Except I don’t think I could share you.”

Gabriel shut his eyes and nuzzled his chest, hoping they were about to segue into more interesting activities, but Arthur said, “And what about the things you want to try?”

Oh.
He swallowed and turned, fumbling one-handed as he keyed in a site. “This.”

His gut clenched as he saw the picture of a bound young man, hands behind his back, body caught in an intricate cache of ropes. He felt the familiar pull of longing but also the stab of shame, the latter made worse because Arthur looked on with him.

“Rope work.” Arthur stroked his body encouragingly. “There’s a kink I can get behind.”

“I’ve never done it.”

“But you want to.”

With only a little hesitation, Gabriel nodded.

Arthur kissed his forehead, his nose. “I know how to do it. Tie you up, keep you safe. Set you free.” His fingers skimmed Gabriel’s hip, kneading gently. “Maybe someday you’ll let me show you.” Gabriel shut his eyes, sinking into his touch, thinking
now
they’d have sex, but Arthur let go and twisted to reach Gabriel’s Nook sitting on the end table behind them. “All right. Time for
my
story time.”

Gabriel blinked, jarred out of his sexual haze. “Now?”

“Yes. I love the way you read out loud.”

Gabriel settled in, now feeling weird again that he was naked. “What do you want me to read?”

“Anything—well, anything meant for someone over ten, please.”

Smiling, Gabriel thumbed through his bookshelves even as he indexed his mental ones as well. “Hmm. Oh—I have it.
Going Postal
. It’s satirical fantasy. It’s about a con artist who gets pulled from death row to run the Discworld post office.”

Arthur snorted. “Government service as punishment. I like this already.”

“Pratchett makes all kinds of subtle social and political commentary, but the novel is also an examination of humanity because of the golems. And a lot of other things actually.” He shut his eyes as Arthur gave him the book and put his hands under the blanket. “Mostly I love Adora Belle Dearheart.”

“You’ve sold me. Go on. Let’s hear a bit.”

Gabriel had been pretty sure Pratchett could woo Arthur, especially when read aloud by someone who could anticipate every joke, every nuance of the text, but it was still satisfying to hear him laugh.
Feel
him laugh, because Gabriel lay on top of him, wrapped inside his arms. As Moist von Lipwig attempted to dig his way out of death row with a spoon only to discover the Patrician had seen that coming, Arthur’s warm, clothed body surrounded his naked one. As Moist plotted his escape from the golem, as he failed miserably, Arthur laughed, his rough fingers skimming Gabriel’s hip beneath the blanket.

As Moist’s charms fell away and he used his true self to woo Adora Belle, that naked honesty the only thing that cracked her prickly shell, Arthur held Gabriel close, listening to every word.

Several times Gabriel stumbled over a line because of Arthur’s touches, thinking they were about to become something more, but whenever he stopped reading, Arthur’s hands stilled until Gabriel started up again. When he stopped, it was to wince and touch his throat, which had gone dry from so much speaking.

Arthur reached to the floor and pulled up a bottle of water. Uncapping it, he passed it over.

“Thank you.” Gabriel sipped at the liquid, letting it cool his throat. “I didn’t realize I’d gone on so long. I hope you weren’t bored.”

“Not even a little.” Arthur resumed stroking Gabriel’s thighs gently. “I love listening to you read out loud. You do every one of the voices different.”

Gabriel hadn’t realized he’d done that. He felt embarrassed. “Occupational hazard of doing preschool story time, sorry.”

“Don’t be. I love it.”

He nuzzled Gabriel’s cheek with his beard, making Gabriel close his eyes. He felt so safe. In a strange house, naked, with a man who kept deliberately poking around inside him to see what he could undo—and Gabriel felt safe. More content and protected than he’d ever felt in his life, in fact.

Arthur pressed a kiss to his temple. “What were you reading in the tub? Something like this?”

“No. Just a regular mystery.” Gabriel turned his head subtly so he could drink in more of Arthur’s scent. “But I have five different books started on there. And several paper ones at home.”

Arthur tugged gently at Gabriel’s curls. “How do you keep all that in your head, all those different stories?”

“Stories are easy. It’s real life that’s hard.”

Arthur continued kneading Gabriel’s hair, stroking his leg. Occasionally he would brush his beard along Gabriel’s cheek, like a cat marking its territory. The gestures tugged at Gabriel every time, making him go softer and softer until he almost spilled the still-open bottle of water in his hand.

Eventually Arthur draped Gabriel over his chest, belly to belly, Gabriel’s face to the fire. He drew back the blanket, exposing Gabriel’s naked body, and his knee gently pulled Gabriel’s legs apart. Gabriel twitched but didn’t fight.

“Easy there.” Arthur removed Gabriel’s glasses from his face and placed them on the floor beside his Nook. Once they were out of the way, he tucked Gabriel between the sofa and his own body, knee spreading Gabriel wider. “There you go. Relax. I’ve got you.”

Gabriel shut his eyes as Arthur’s fingers skimmed his ass. Arthur’s finger disappeared from circling Gabriel’s hole, returning cool and slick. Gabriel gasped as the tip of Arthur’s finger pressed deep.

Arthur’s other hand found Gabriel’s nipple and pinched it, teasing the bud into a peak as he slid a second finger inside Gabriel. “Open up for me, boy. You’ve got me hard, lying naked on me. I need to put my cock inside you. Sweet little librarian. Naughty just for me.” He pushed the two fingers deep, twisting slightly. Gabriel shuddered and tried to open, take them deeper. “The things I’m going to do to you. But you’re safe. I’m going to take care of you. All weekend. Make you breakfast. Keep you warm and safe. Take you on a sleigh ride. Hear your stories.” He took Gabriel’s mouth in a tender kiss, then broke away and ran his nose along Gabriel’s cheek. “I want all of you, Gabriel. The good boy and the bad.”

Gabriel’s heart thudded, joy spilling over as Arthur kissed him again before leading him to the carpet in front of the fire.

I love you,
Gabriel thought, tears leaking out of his eyes as Arthur pushed inside him. He let go, riding away on the feelings, too safe to be scared.

I
n the morning, Arthur took Gabriel to see the sleigh.

“Once we got it painted, I moved it to the Peterson place, since I had to practice my driving. He rigged up a track in the back field, and every afternoon it’s warm enough, I go over and give it a spin.”

“Warm enough?” Gabriel glanced across the truck at him. “What does that mean?”

“Well, you’re not supposed to work horses when it’s too cold unless they’re used to it. Gary’s rule is zero. If the air temp is above zero, I can work them so long as they get a good rubdown after. But not too hard, and if the wind is too high, it’s a no-go. So we’re hoping like hell for nice weather for the fundraiser.”

“I guess I had no idea there were temperature limits for horses. How in the world did they function in days before cars?”

“Well, for one, a lot of them were worked to death. But also they worked more often and were used to it. That’s part of the reason I go over every day. I have to work Shakey and Timber regular to keep up their endurance.”

“Shakey and Timber? Are those the names of the horses?”

Arthur nodded with a sideways grin. “Yeah. I’ll confess, I prefer Shakey. Goofy old draft horse. Loves peppermint like nobody’s business. He’s a good boy for the most part, unless he gets bored. Then he starts trying to get the better of me.”

“Have you worked much with horses before?”

Arthur braced his wrist on the top of the steering wheel to ease his posture as he shrugged. “Here and there. Been on a few trail rides. I know enough how to not fall off. Did some driving when I was a kid, but the sleigh was new. Kind of fun. Makes me wish I had a horse of my own.”