Sequel to A Marvelous Little Toy
WARNING: Graphic description of male-male sex.
Dreams can come true, it can happen to you… The words echoed in his mind, over and over again. He had never believed it, never dared.
And why should he? It wasn't like his life had ever been anything but hard, and the only breaks he had ever gotten had been the ones he'd managed to create for himself, and paid for in blood, sweat and tears.
So how in the world had he ended up with his heart's desire?
It simply made no sense.
He had known from the moment he'd seen Chris Larabee that he loved the man, although he couldn't explain why if he'd had to. Larabee was a stranger. But the truth of feelings could not be ignored.
And his trust had not been misplaced.
However, after just a few weeks working for Chris and the ATF, he had discovered that he was also in love with the man.
But Chris had once been married, and happily so. Hell, he was still grieving over the loss of his wife and child. There was absolutely no way Larabee could ever be interested in another man, right?
Wrong. But he hadn't known that then.
And after six months of working with the man, he realized he had to do something or his feelings were going to become obvious to one of the other members of Team Seven, if not to Larabee himself. So, one Friday morning he had steeled himself, marched into Larabee's office and closed the door behind him.
Chris looked up from his latest stack of paperwork and scowled at the interruption.
"Need t' talk t' ya," he had said.
The scowl softened immediately and Larabee gestured to one of the chairs positioned opposite his desk.
He sank into it, glad he no longer had to rely on his quaking knees to hold him up. "I'm gay," he announced without preamble.
Larabee blinked and peered at him, trying to determine if he was being serious, or if it was just the start of some stupid joke. When he saw the man's grave expression he knew it was no joke.
"You're gay," Chris repeated as if he needed to be sure he had gotten it right.
He nodded. "If that means y' want me t' resign, I will. Don't want t' cause no problems for y', or the others."
"Why are you telling me this now?" Larabee asked him.
"Wanted t' do it before, but…" He trailed off, shaking his head.
"But what?"
He looked up, his expression a mix of fear and earnestness. "Never had a real family, not since I was a little kid. I didn't want t' lose what I've got here, but I can't stand livin' a lie an' I didn't want y' t' hear it from anyone else first."
Larabee settled back in his chair, his arms folded over his chest as he studied his sniper. "Hell, Vin, I don't care if you're straight, gay, bi or asexual. Unless you're planning on having sex reassignment surgery it isn't any of my business, or anyone else's for that matter."
He slumped back against the chair, shaking all over and hoping it didn't look as obvious as it felt to him. He grinned a little and replied, "Naw, I like m' body just like it is, thanks."
Larabee leaned forward, his forearms on his desktop and shrugged. "I'm glad to hear it. And I'm glad you felt like you could tell me, but it really doesn't matter to me, Vin. Is someone giving you grief?"
He shook his head. "No, like I said, I just couldn't keep not tellin' ya."
Larabee nodded. "All right. You planning on telling the others, too?"
A flash of panic sliced though his eyes. "Thought maybe you'd be all right with the news, but I ain't so sure 'bout the others."
"I honestly don't think it would bother them," he said, "but it's your call."
"'Preciate it," Vin said, standing. He fled out of the office, his heart pounding so hard it felt like it might break out of his ribcage.
And that was how the situation had stayed, until he had nearly gotten himself killed. His extended stay in the hospital had gotten Larabee to thinking which, Vin had discovered, could have disastrous consequences.
Only, in this case, Chris had decided that he loved him. And it had only been a short walk from that realization to the one that said Larabee was in love with him, although he was absolutely certain Chris still wasn't sure himself how the hell that had happened.
An act of divine intervention, as Josiah would call it.
So, during his recovery, they had become lovers, and then life-mates, each of them the other half of his partner's soul.
Their relationship was all he had ever dreamed of, and better than any fantasy he had ever been able to conceive. But then it had gotten even better.
He had been afraid to tell the others, even after he and Chris were sleeping together and he had essentially moved in at the ranch. He knew the others would figure it out eventually, but he didn't want to do anything to hurry the process along, afraid any objections would shatter the perfection he was living.
But he couldn't help the way he felt. He couldn't help the joy that crept out in a myriad of ways.
And the others had noticed that, if nothing else.
He suspected Ezra had been the first to guess, because he suspected Ezra had known all along that he was gay, but the man had never said a word about his orientation, or his relationship with Larabee.
Buck was probably the next to know, and that, Vin decided, was because the ladies' man knew Chris so damned well. He must have recognized the happiness on Larabee's face and knew that he had fallen in love again. Tanner couldn't help but wonder how long it had taken Wilmington to figure out with whom.
Even money would put Josiah next. After all, the man was a trained profiler. And it was a good bet that Josiah had vetted the idea with Nathan, who was about as tolerant as a man could be anyway.
Buck, he guessed, had told JD, who was probably the most shocked of all of them when he had heard the news. But the kid had a big heart and not a single prejudiced bone in his body.
So they all knew. He just wished he had known that they all knew that morning. It would have made what happened a little easier to bear.
And to think he had been so damned sure that he'd be getting them, not the other way around.
He had planned it for weeks, staying as low key as he could so they wouldn't get suspicious. He had told himself it was really for their own good, that they were getting too predictable, but to be perfectly honest, he had just wanted to watch them all squirm.* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
They all arrived just before eight o'clock that morning, just like they always did, but this was no ordinary morning.
Just like Vin had planned, the attacks occurred almost simultaneously.
Buck sat down in his chair and pushed off like usual, intending to roll to the end of his desk where his paper sat waiting for him, but the wheels had been removed and he pitched over onto the floor, his feet coming up into the air as he howled.
JD opened his desk drawer to pull out his day-planner, the twin spring-snakes shooting straight up into his face. He hollered and bolted up from his chair, turning it over with a loud bang that echoed Buck's.
Nathan sat down and reached for the phone so he could call Raine at the shelter, the icy Vaseline creating a ring around his ear and making him yelp in chorus with Buck and JD.
Ezra sat down and picked up the first letter on the stack of waiting mail. He opened it, his eyes going wide and his mouth forming a perfect "O" as he read that the IRS was planning to audit him – for the past five years.
"What!" he yelled in startled accompaniment to the others.
Josiah, who always logged on remotely from home so he could have his e-paper waiting for him in the morning, hit the print button, the printer beginning to shoot out paper without any print on them. The big man dove for the buttons, trying to cancel the job, but it was no use.
And, in his office, Chris sat down only to find a note on his blotter that read: Top drawer.
He opened his drawer to find an eight-by-ten color photo of what looked to be a naked Vin, lying in the center of their bed. There was a small red bow stuck to the surface of the photo, over the image-Vin's groin. Staring at the hungry look Tanner wore in the picture, Larabee immediately felt himself beginning to get hard.
He reached out and plucked the bow off only to find that Vin was holding his fully erect and swollen cock in his hand, which immediately left Chris's cock in the same condition.
Then came the thuds and the chorus of yells from the outer office.
"Hey, Larabee, come here!" Vin called loudly over the din.
"In a minute!" he called back, knowing if he went out there now his "condition" would be blatantly obvious to anyone who looked.
"I need you now!" Tanner called, just enough invitation in the words to make Larabee's cock jump again.
"I'll just bet you do," Larabee growled to himself as he stood, took a deep breath, and imagined icy water being poured over his lap. Then he deftly adjusted himself and walked out to see just what the hell was going on. It probably looked like he was trying to walk with a poker jammed up his ass, but he didn't care. He was going to throttle Tanner.
Buck and JD were both on their feet again – their chairs still overturned – and looking like they might just kill his lover before he got to it first. Nathan was wiping at his head like he planned to remove his ear with his handkerchief, all the while muttering something about scalpels and castration. Not a good sign for Tanner's longevity, or his enjoyment.
Josiah was trying to stop a tide of paper from escaping the printer, evoking curses and what sounded like arcane pagan spells.
And Ezra was frantically trying to get his lawyer on the phone.
Vin, however, was chortling and snorting and wiping his eyes.
And that's when Larabee saw it – the calendar. April 1st. And Vin had gotten all of them.
The only question now was: would he live though the morning to savor his victory?
From the looks on the others' faces, Larabee doubted it. He needed to act, and act now, but how to save and repay his lover at the same time?
Stalking to Tanner's desk, Chris grabbed the smaller, younger man and jerked him to his feet. A brief flash of terror passed over the man's handsome features, but before he had a chance to react, Larabee planted a kiss on the man that would have steamed up the windows on a ninety degree day.
When he let the sniper up, Vin's face was crimson and his ears were a deep shade of purple that looked wholly unnatural.
The others ceased their assault upon the sniper's desk to watch, then cheered loudly when Chris stepped back, embarrassing Tanner even more.
"He's ticklish, by the way," the blond said nonchalantly.
"Larabee!" Vin squealed, watching the others closing in on him.
"You reap what you sow, Tanner," Chris replied as he walked away, not looking back.
"Fuck you!" Vin yelled back.
Chris turned, stating loudly, "How many times do I have to tell you, Tanner, not in the office!"
Vin blanched and then blushed even harder. He dove for the only cover at hand – the space under his desk – threatening to dismember anyone who came in after him.* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
Orin Travis stepped into the office of Team Seven and glanced around. Chairs were overturned, there were piles of paper strewn on the floor by the copier, and one of his agents was cowering under his desk, the others apparently trying to coax him out.
He glanced over at Larabee. "Why is Agent Tanner hiding under his desk?"
The others quickly tried to look as "normal" as possible given the situation.
"Phobia, sir," Chris replied easily. "Today's the first of April."
"Ah, trixkaidekaphobia," Travis said, nodding his understanding. "Or is that Fridays that fall on the 13th? Well, in any event, I'll have to remember what day it is and be careful."
"Did you need to see me, sir?" Chris asked his boss.
"I just wanted to ask if you'd stop by my office around two. The FBI wants to chat about the Glover case."
"I'll be there," Chris assured him.
Travis shot Vin a sympathetic glance and then left.
"Ya can't hide under there forever, Junior," Buck told the sniper.
With a loud sigh, Tanner climbed out from under his desk, his cheeks still flaming. "Happy April Fools?" he said lamely, then shot a glare at Larabee, who just grinned back at him.
"Ah hell," Buck said, shaking his head, "guess it's my own damned fault. Didn't realize what day it was."
"Me either," JD agreed.
"I did, but I didn't think anyone would be that–" Nathan's tirade was cut short when he saw the genuine hurt in Vin's eyes. Tanner hadn't meant any harm, he was just coming out of his shell. He grinned and chuckled. "Guess I must've looked pretty damned funny, didn't I?"
Vin nodded, but it was clear he was still worried. "Sorry, Nate, I didn't mean any harm."
"Besides, this is all Mr. Larabee's fault," Ezra said, adding, "Of course that is assuming that there is no IRS audit…"
"Not yet," Vin replied, wagging his eyebrows at the man.
"My fault?" Chris asked their undercover man. "How do you figure that?"
"Well," Ezra replied in his soft southern drawl, "before the two of you landed in domestic bliss, Mr. Tanner remained in his shell. Now the beast has been let out and we can surely look forward to other such incidents in the future."
"That kiss," JD said, looking from Chris to Vin, who was turning bright red again as he realized his friends knew about his relationship with Chris. "That was really something. I mean, you both looked like you really, really enjoyed that."
"Oh, I can promise you, kid, they did!" Buck said before either Larabee or Vin could reply.
Both men blushed at that one.
Vin held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "All right, 'm sorry I got a little carried away… I won't do it again, I promise."
"It's all right, brother," Josiah said, grinning and shaking his head. "It's nice to see you truly happy."
Vin's gaze cut to Chris. "I am, Josiah, for the first time in m' life."
"Then this is a day to remember," Ezra concluded. "I say we celebrate. Breakfast?"
The others nodded.
"Vin's buying," Chris announced, turning to lead the way out.
"Me?" Tanner yelped. "Hell, Larabee, you're the one who resorted t' that poor excuse of a kiss."
Chris stopped and turned. "Poor excuse?"
Tanner nodded.
"I'll show you a poor excuse," Larabee growled, starting for the sniper.
"I was just funnin' ya!" Vin cried.
Dreams can come true, it can happen to you… The words echoed in his mind, over and over. He had never believed it, never dared, but it was true.END
Author's Note: This story first appeared in the Mag 7 zine, Seven Card Stud #3, published by Neon RainBow Press, Cinda Gillilan and Jody Norman, editors. When we all decided to post the stories that have appeared in the issues of Seven Card Stud that are more than two years old, we opted to use a generic pen name because, while Pat is the primary author of this story, she had so much help from the other folks writing for the press that it just made sense to consider the story to be written by the Neon RainBow Press Collective! Resistance was futile. So, thanks to the whole Neon Gang ? Sierra Chaves, Michelle Fortado, Patricia Grace, Erica Michaels, Nina Talbot, Kasey Tucker, and Lorin and Mary Fallon Zane. Story last edited 6-22-2005. The art is by Shiloh!