STORY EXCERPT

“Remind me again why we’re here, trudging in the snow like a couple of lost polar bears?”

Niki had no trouble telling from the obnoxiously loud scoff he received from Charlie that his boyfriend had probably heard the complaint before—and definitely more than once. Still, even their Toyota Hilux had decided to stop moving through the thick snowbanks blocking the dirt road to the Immonen family country cottage in the middle of nowhere in Central Finland. That was their destination today, the day before Christmas Eve.

“You know why, babe.” Charlie laughed in front of him, moving ahead, showing only his back to his sullen boyfriend. “We do this every year. It’s a family tradition.”

Smothered and buried under layers of winter wear, Charlie was truly and well hidden from sight, and the nighttime did the rest in obscuring his features and figure. But with his mind’s eye Niki saw the beautiful, tall, lean man underneath, from the brown tresses a finger’s length too long for convenience to his gorgeous dancer’s feet with the cutest toes anyone should ever have. Not that Charlie was a professional dancer, but he had the most sensuous feet Niki had ever seen on a man. Niki had never had a foot fetish before Charlie, but he did love giving the man’s perfect feet a rubdown every other day.

Even though the night sky was mostly clear, a few heavy snowflakes landed on them as they waded through the knee-high crust of snow surrounding them. Even though the place belonged to Niki’s family, Niki knew this season was more significant to Charlie than to him, because Charlie didn’t have warm bonds with his own kin. Niki and Charlie had formed a family of two at first when they had started dating exclusively five years ago, but then the whole Immonen clan had sort of adopted Charlie into their fold, and now they were an extended family.

Niki muttered something unseemly under his breath but made sure Charlie couldn’t hear him. This time of the year was Charlie’s favorite, and Niki loved him to bits, so the thought of not giving him this was inconceivable. Niki loved the winter, too—the snow, the cold, the frost, and Christmas, of course. What he didn’t like was the five-hour trip in bad weather, in the waning light of an extremely short day as it was, to a log cabin five miles from a paved road, tucked in the middle of nowhere, with no electricity and no running water, the whole place hidden in the woods by the shores of a gorge lake. Coming here, Niki always felt disconnected from the world and from civilization.

And the midnight trip through the snow-covered yard from the sauna building’s guest room to the frozen outhouse at the edge of the woods to take a piss was not on his list of perfect Christmas presents either.

“Stop grumbling,” Charlie hollered over his shoulder, merriment in his voice. “I can hear you all the way from here. I can hear you thinking, too. Knock it off. It’s six measly days.”

Niki couldn’t help but grin. Charlie Hale was his rock, steadfast and strong, and he never let Niki get away with any of his typical grim bullshit that happened to drop out of his mouth more than ever around this time of year. It wasn’t meeting the family, or even coming up north from Helsinki to spend Christmas out in the boondocks. No, it was the stress of all the arrangements. That part—the endless organizing—their family had down, perfecting it into an art. Yes, Niki also knew that in the end it would all be worth it. The atmosphere was charged with both anticipation and anxiety.

Shaking his head in frustration, Niki carried on. Soon they rounded the last bend to the cottage. The spruces and pines lining the road there loomed tall, dark, and menacing around them in the night that had fallen quickly after 3:00 p.m., and now at seven the ambiance was positively grim and foreboding.

Suddenly Charlie stopped, gave a happy smile to Niki, and took his hand in his, both covered by thick, woolly mittens. Hand in hand they continued onward through the snow, and remarkably the night no longer felt threatening to Niki. In fact, it wasn’t until that moment that Niki noticed the bright, twinkling stars and the pale, waning moon high above them, the thin, dark blue veil of night clouds, the shrouds of glittering snow on the evergreen tree branches, and the warm glimmers of candle lights through the windows of the large log cabin and the sauna cottage, one right next to the other. It may have been bloody freezing outside, the night frost seeping through their clothes into their bones, but Niki felt the heat of love within him, his heart beating a little faster, in anticipation of seeing his family and spending the holiday with them.

“Come on, babe,” Charlie spoke, tugging on his boyfriend’s hand eagerly, quickening his pace as they neared the cottage. “Hurry up.”

ADULT EXCERPT

“It’s still dark outside,” he cooed in his boyfriend’s ear quietly, licking the soft shell a bit and nibbling tenderly. “It’s just past seven. Mom and Grams aren’t getting up until nine, when the ham is ready.”

“So?” Charlie muttered gruffly, apparently not swayed by the promise of sex so early in the morning—despite the morning wood he was sporting.

Niki chuckled and continued to cajole. “So…we have a couple of hours to ourselves. Uninterrupted make-out time.” When Charlie just snorted—or snored—Niki went for the big guns, shrugging with feigned impassiveness. “You know that farmhouse at the crossroads? The kid who lives there has really grown up. I saw him briefly last night when we passed. I think he’s nineteen or twenty now. And, boy, that farm work sure has done marvels for his bod!” Yeah, it was pure and utter BS, since the guy had had on winter garments that blocked all visual stimuli under tons of fabric, but then again this was enticement, not an outright threat.

And it worked like a charm.

Charlie stirred, tossing the pillow aside and glaring at Niki like he had just murdered his sleep. “You had better take that back, lover, or there’ll be no more loving for you.”

Thanks to the sauna almost next door, with only the dressing room in between the two spaces, and the gas heater in the corner, the guest room wasn’t entirely chilly. Nonetheless, when Niki giggled and pushed the covers aside to get at his boyfriend’s body, Charlie’s skin went all goose-bumpy, and he trembled.

“Oh, I think I could have you whenever I wanted,” Niki taunted, straddling Charlie’s hips and lodging that perfect cock between his ass cheeks. His hands roamed the expanses of heated skin, ripped and tanned to perfection, and his hungry mouth closed around Charlie’s right nipple, laving and sucking it to a hard, fleshy nub. Charlie moaned, his back arched, and his hands traveled up and down Niki’s shoulders and upper back, tangling in his bed-tousled, blond hair.

In his wanton state Charlie was ripe with honest confessions. “Yeah, babe. Whenever you want. I’m all yours.”

Niki drifted upward, licking a long, unbroken line up to Charlie’s neck, jaw, and lips. “I love you, Charlie. So much.”

The two of them had said the words to each other many times, and for Niki the thrill of the emotion behind them was always there, giving his heart palpitations.

“I love you, too, Niki. More than anything.” Charlie’s mouth crashed on Niki’s, and the kiss was ravenous. Their limbs entwined, and they were pressed tight together from head to toe.

When Charlie pulled back, Niki felt frustrated and puzzled. Charlie’s expression was sheepish. “Sorry, babe. Ew, I have horrible morning breath.”

“Are you kidding? Who cares? It’s just us, and to me you taste perfect.”

Suddenly Niki found himself thrown on his back when Charlie took over. They could take any sexual role they wanted and had varied many times, but less than secretly Niki adored Charlie taking over, becoming all masculine, raw, and dominant. As Charlie rocked back and forth, mashing his hardening dick against Niki’s equally straining erection, Niki matched every movement until they were sweaty and panting, and their shared lust spiked as their cocks rubbed and twitched eagerly against one another while their kisses seemed unending.

“What do you want?” To their mutual surprise they both asked the exact same question at exactly the same moment. And then they were laughing and tumbling in bed together, like kids in a friendly wrestling match.

But then Charlie rediscovered Niki’s lips, and devoured him.

Their amusement may have eased the urgency they had felt, but the desire arose anew, washing over them both, waiting for the wave of pleasure to crest.

“Need you,” Niki mumbled in between greedy kisses, practically unable to speak with his lover’s tongue delving deep in his mouth.

As seemed to be his custom, Charlie understood.

Reaching for his backpack and the tube of lube inside, Charlie never stopped kissing Niki, not even to draw breath. Niki was thankful they had brought their own sheets with them because they were going to get messy. With infinitely gentle fingers Charlie touched Niki’s hole, probing and prepping him. Squirming to try and shove his ass closer to the fingers giving him such delight, Niki moaned into the kiss, wanting more, his nails digging into Charlie’s shoulders and arms. Niki was well aware that his tongue was all over the place, seeking that delicious taste of his boyfriend’s lips, tongue, teeth, palate, everything.

He couldn’t help himself, just like that first night they had spent together. It had been unforgettable, a watershed event that had given Niki a glimpse of a life beyond casual sex and quick relationships. And when he had met Charlie again the next weekend that precious glimpse had turned into a full view of a happy future together as a devoted couple.

“God, I love your skin. It’s so smooth and pale.” Charlie whispered those desirous words against Niki’s chest, inching up to nuzzle his neck, and Niki whimpered when those hot lips latched onto his pulsing jugular.

By then Charlie was pushing Niki’s bent knees up against his chest and aligning his silky, blunt cockhead with Niki’s flickering opening. Lifting his hips from the bed, Niki tried to be open enough for his boyfriend’s big, fat cock that seemed so at odds with his lean physique—even as cut as his dick was. Still, it wasn’t like Niki had any complaints. Cautiously, matching Niki’s movements, Charlie pushed past the tight ring of muscle guarding Niki’s rectum and slowly inched his way deeper.

“Charlie…” Niki was moaning wantonly as his legs were hoisted high up to his lover’s shoulders by the man in question. Now he was as open as humanly possible, and Charlie shoved his way in to the hilt. His brown pubes tickled against Niki’s shaved perineum.