Leon Read online

  Chapter One

  In Jase McCoy’s opinion, there was only one thing worse than New York City during rush hour: New York City during rush hour on Christmas Eve. Not that anyone would ask his opinion. If they did, he’d admit that the subzero temperatures, the ugly mud and oil-slick snow, and the extra padding each New Yorker wore, making the already crowded walkways nearly impassable, were just minor inconveniences. What Jase really hated about this time of year was the sorry homeless-looking Santas with their missing teeth, dirty natural beards, and the stench of cheap booze that rolled off them—or worse, the leering, over-jolly fat men who got their rocks off by groping children. The constant noise of Christmas music, mixed with the screeching and crying of children and added to the constant blinking of multicolored lights—it was enough for Jase to want to rip out his hair and gouge out his eyes from their sockets.

  There wasn’t anything festive or jolly about this season. He couldn’t bring to mind a single pleasant memory of Christmases past. To him it wasn’t a goodwill or spread-cheer time of year. More like, cuss, beg, go in debt, hate your in-laws, spoil your brats, rush, fight lines, give-me-a-fucking-migraine time of year. The facts that the calls coming into the complaint desk where he worked multiplied by several numbers and the suicide rate went up substantially during this time of year were proof that he wasn’t the only one on the planet who hated Christmas.

  Growing up in rural West Virginia, Jase had been lucky to have anything to eat during the holiday season, since the one meal a day he got at school was nonexistent. Presents were out of the question, since his mom and whatever man she was sharing her bed with found their holiday cheer in the bottom of a vodka bottle.

  He had spent most of his Christmas mornings alone in filth and squalor. Instead of the scent of warm sugar cookies or roasting turkey, the prominent scents of booze, piss, and vomit had filled their one-room shack. There had been no blinking Christmas lights, since Mom had forgotten to pay the utilities again, and the only presents that Santa had left were empty vodka bottles and crushed packages of cigarettes.

  He’d always thought there was something very wrong with him. Even in elementary school the other kids had talked about Santa visiting. The amazing gifts they had found under the tree on Christmas morning. He’d never told anyone that Santa hadn’t visited him. He was too embarrassed to admit that he hadn’t been visited. That he’d obviously been so bad during the year that he hadn’t even warranted a stocking full of coal. When he got older, he felt smug when he learned the truth. Those snot-nosed kids who had ranted and raved about Santa had been duped. They had all been lied to. Santa didn’t exist. Christmas was bullshit.

  After graduating high school, Jase had worked his way to New York City. He had been lucky to get a decent enough job that he could afford a small place of his own. He left the misery of West Virginia far behind him, tried not to think of the hell he’d grown up in. Yet some things from his past still affected him. Like Christmas. He didn’t get caught up in the holiday season. He refused to waste his hard-earned money on silly decorations or buying gifts. His friends were always smart enough to respect his wishes and leave him alone at Christmas time. Smart enough not to try to buy him a gift he’d only throw back at them. Smart enough to leave him alone and let him be a scrooge and ignore the bullshit. “Scrooge” might not have been the correct term, since even the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future knew not to fuck with Jase. He hated Christmas.

  Tightening the scarf around his neck, Jase kept his head down and fought his way through the crowds. He ignored the wino Santa as he wished him a Merry Christmas. He bit his tongue to keep from shouting his usual reply of “Fa la la la fuck you.” He was tired, cranky, and only had two more blocks to go before he’d be out of this craziness. There was no reason to push his distaste and bitterness on anyone else.

  His sole focus on getting home, he didn’t see the hellion in the bright-blue snowsuit with the rainbow hat and scarf dart out from a shop until it was too late. His lunch bag went flying one way, his ass another until it landed deep in a nasty brown snow bank. The cold wetness instantly soaked his jeans. Thank goodness his fall hadn’t affected the devil spawn in blue. He was left uninjured and was now playing dodge-’em with the other unsuspecting pedestrians as his mother shrieked, threatening him with coal in his stocking and Santa only visiting good boys as she ran after him. Yeah, good luck with that, kid!

  “Great, just great!” he yelled as he fought to pull himself from the Pennzoil slush. “Merry fucking Christmas.”

  “That could make Christmas very merry.”

  A shiver ran down Jase’s spine at the deep, sensual voice above him. His shiver intensified as he looked up and met the most beautiful green eyes he’d ever seen. The cold, the noise, the blinking lights all disappeared as he swam in those amazing eyes.

  “Shall we make it merry?” the stranger asked as he reached out and took Jase’s hand, pulling him to his feet.

  Blinking, mouth gaping open, he lost the ability to form words, struck dumb by the sexy godlike creature staring down at him with a twinkle in his eye. A twinkle? Who the hell actually has eyes that twinkle? Thick, blond, nearly white curls surrounded his perfect cream face. The deep red of his full lips stood out in stark contrast to the cream perfection, drawing the eye. He was beyond beautiful, though it was in no way a feminine beauty. The man had a raw, masculine sexuality rolling off him in thick waves that made Jase’s dick harden in his soggy jeans.

  “Ready?” the stranger asked as he leaned in, placing a soft, warm kiss against the sensitive skin beneath Jase’s ear.

  The scent of cinnamon enveloped Jase as he was pulled tight against a solid, rock-hard chest. “Ready for what?” he stammered in a nearly breathless whisper.

  “Ready for Merry fucking Christmas, of course,” he said as he handed Jase his bag and began pulling him through the crowd.

  “You heard that, did you?” Jase laughed.

  “Oh yeah, I heard it, and I think it’s a wonderful idea.”

  Jase wasn’t sure why he was allowing this man to pull him along, why he was following him. It wasn’t just that he was gorgeous, though that didn’t hurt. His dick knew exactly why they were following him and didn’t question it all. Yet it was something more, something about the man. He exuded calm, trustworthiness, happiness. Jase wasn’t sure how he knew; he just did. Even the little voice inside his head that was usually reasonable and overly cautious was silent.

  When they stopped, he looked up and realized they were now standing outside his apartment building. How did he know where I live?

  The question faded as the stranger cupped his chin and forced him to meet his eyes. “Invite me in, Jase,” he said as he rubbed his thumb along his bottom lip.

  A brief image of the two of them tangled in a mass of naked arms and legs, their sweat-slick bodies rolling and sliding together on his bed, hit him, and he felt it down to his tightening balls and throbbing shaft. The intensity of it nearly caused his knees to buckle. Jase reached out and grabbed onto the stranger’s forearm to steady himself, and a shot of electricity ran through his system. He gasped at the power in it. His cheeks heated when he noticed the smirk, an almost knowing smile on the man’s sensual lips, as if he’d read his mind or had been an audience to his naughty visions.

  “But… I don’t know you.” He wasn’t opposed to the anonymous blow job, even a quick suck and fuck in a bathroom stall, but he never brought anyone he didn’t know into his home. “I don’t invite strangers in,” he said with a little more conviction. He wasn’t sure who he was trying to convince more, himself or this mystery man.

  “I’m Leon.” He spoke the name against Jase’s lips. “And I promise you, you want to know me. You need to know me.”

  The scent of warm cinna
mon enveloped him again with a hint of something else—something familiar, something that made him forget all the reasons why it was a bad idea to invite a stranger into his home. He wasn’t sure he needed to know him, but certain parts of him, certain hard, getting harder private parts wanted to know him a great deal. Before Jase could recall those reasons, he was swallowing his moans as Leon pushed his tongue into his mouth. Leon’s hand wrapped around his neck, tilting his head as the kiss deepened. Tongues thrust and teeth clanked as the battle to control the kiss intensified, Jase holding his own in the action and trying to give as good as he was getting. The soft moans he felt as vibrations as well as heard told him he wasn’t doing to badly. The kiss was hot and demanding; his lips were nibbled and his tongue stroked as his mouth was devoured. Though he was standing outside in the bitter cold, he was warm, heat surging through him, leaving him breathless. Pulling back when the need for oxygen forced the kiss to end, he found himself standing in the middle of his living room with Leon unbuttoning his coat and sliding it down his shoulders.

  “So sad,” Leon murmured.

  “Sad?” Jase wasn’t thinking anything sad, not with the way warm lips and a wet tongue were trailing down his neck or the way Leon’s large hands were unbuttoning his shirt. The brush of Leon’s fingers on his chest scorched him. Jase swallowed a moan, his skin prickling. A wash of heat enveloped his body, making all his senses hyperaware. He could think of nothing more than climbing into that incredible gorgeous body and not coming up for air until the holiday season had passed. There was nothing sad about that. Pleasurable, but in no way sad.

  “Not a single sign of Christmas cheer in your home.” Leon spoke against Jase’s skin as he moved down until his warm breath heated the skin of his now exposed chest.

  When the hell did I lose my shirt? Hell, he didn’t remember entering his apartment, either, but at the moment, he didn’t care how they had gotten here or when his shirt had been removed or where it had gone. His attention was locked on the way those thick hands kneaded his chest. The way Leon’s tongue licked at his breastbone, sending warmth spreading through him. Jase shifted closer, the tip of his cock leaking precome, adding to the wet spot that had already began soaking into his boxers. Jase leaned his head back, giving Leon plenty of room to work, and moaned, “I hate Christmas.”

  “You just haven’t ever felt the joys of Christmas.”

  The connotation he gave to the words brought all sorts of images to Jase’s head, most involving them being naked with him stretched out, taking what he hoped would be Leon’s ample dick deep inside him. His body thrilled at the thought of being filled. Jase shuddered, leaning deeper into Leon’s body. Focus, Jase. Get him in bed and make him show you what joy is. Hell, show him what kind of joy you can give. He grinned slyly, then glanced at those smoldering eyes. “I suppose you plan on showing me those?” he asked, invitation evident in his voice.

  “Oh, yes,” Leon stated in a growl that reverberated against his chest.

  A swirl of sparkling light surrounded him, and before he could blink, Jase was lying on his back atop his bed. The air tickled his heated skin. His damp boxers clung to him while a very naked, very aroused Leon straddled his thighs.

  Jase stared at the wide red ribbon Leon had between his fingers. Leon rubbed the ribbon between fingers that Jase wished he would use to touch him. Leon’s lips quirked in a grin that made Jase shudder as he watched him, the lust in his gaze obvious.

  Jase didn’t question how he’d suddenly found himself lying on his bed, nor was he paying any attention to what Leon was doing with the ribbon. All his focus was on what was close enough to touch or suck. He was enthralled by the long, thick cock jutting from Leon’s sculpted body. His mouth watered; he wanted to taste and tease the crown, to lap up the pearly white evidence of Leon’s arousal at the tip.

  Jase ignored the silkiness of the ribbon as it was wound around his wrists, ignored the little voice in his head that was telling him he shouldn’t be doing this, too engrossed in the way Leon’s impressive erection swayed and twitched as if it were dancing for the delight and benefit of his heated gaze.

  “All wrapped up like a pretty Christmas package,” Leon cooed.

  Jase tore his eyes from Leon’s body and forced himself to meet his eyes. The initial panic he should have felt as he realized he was now bound to the headboard of his bed died before it could take over. Instead, he watched the flecks of gold swirl through those twinkling green eyes. A jolt of electricity surged through him, making his body bow off the bed and his cock throb painfully. Jase couldn’t say he’d ever had a fantasy about this particular kink. Hadn’t thought that being bound and at someone’s mercy would turn him on so much. Regardless of what he thought, his body was all in favor of being bound. Holy shit! Being in favor of the experience was way too mild a description. He was teetering on the edge of orgasm, his breath coming out in short pants and his pulse racing, and Leon had barely even touched him. He nearly fell over the edge when Leon suddenly produced a thick candy cane and began sucking it deep into his mouth, bringing it nearly all the way out, letting his tongue swirl around the edge before sucking it back between those lush lips.

  Leon never took his eyes from Jase’s, watching his arousal soar as that candy slid in and out of his mouth. The way it left his lips wet and glistening made Jase ache to follow the candy cane inside Leon’s mouth with his tongue. Jase jerked as Leon pulled the slick candy from his mouth and began running it around Jase’s nipples. They both moaned as Leon leaned down, letting his tongue follow the path of the candy, licking the sticky sweetness from Jase’s skin, drawing closer and closer to his swollen nubs.

  “Christmas flavors, mmmm,” Leon murmured before sucking a candy-coated nipple into his mouth.

  The hot suction on Jase’s sensitive nipple seemed to be going directly to his prick, and again Jase found himself hovering on the edge of orgasm. The slick tongue, combined with the sharp scrape of teeth against his nipple, had him writhing and pulling at his restraints. Jase wanted more than anything to grab onto those thick white curls and pull Leon harder to his chest. Just a little more, a little more friction, and it would throw him over the edge into bliss. Hell, if he had his hands free, he would push Leon down to his cock and he was sure it would just take one lick or breath for him to come.

  Jase’s breath came faster and his balls tightened. When Leon released his nipple with a pop, he looked up at Jase with a smirk before bending and taking his other nipple into his mouth, teasing it with a light flick of tongue, never deepening the suction or the press of his tongue. Jase’s body stepped back from the edge at the soft, gentle caress that left him teetering on the brink but wouldn’t push him over.

  “I hate Christmas,” he groaned.

  Leon sat back on his heels and cocked his head, staring at him with a questioning look on his face. Then his eyes lit up and he winked as he reached behind his back. Jase’s heart rate sped in anticipation. Leon seemed intent on proving Christmas had its benefits. Jase wasn’t convinced, but he was beyond caring as long as Leon kept exploring his body with his naughty ideas.

  Jase’s muscles clenched and his breath caught when Leon produced a long clear icicle. It was thick, and instead of narrowing into a sharp point, it flared at the end as if a thick drop of water had swelled and frozen before it could drip off the end. Leon placed the tip of the icicle against the dampness of Jase’s boxers and began rubbing it gently against the moist cotton, setting off sparks of pleasure that raised goose bumps across his skin. Even the scant material was too much of a barrier. Jase longed to feel it against his bare skin. Wanted to know if it felt as cold as it looked or was as hot as the blood racing through his veins.

  Mercifully, Jase didn’t have to wait long to find out. Leon worked his fingers below the waistband of Jase’s boxers, the tips teasing his skin as he pulled the material down. Leon kissed his way down one trembling leg until the underwear was at Jase’s ankles. He pulled them off, throwing them away as he mov
ed back up Jase’s body until he was kneeling between his spread thighs. Leon teased the tip of the cool, glasslike feel icicle through the soft curls above Jase’s cock. He ran it from hip to hip, through his curls, but never where Jase wanted to feel it the most. As Jase’s hips began rocking, coming up off the bed as he tried to get the slick icicle to rub against his swollen shaft, Leon grabbed his hip in a powerful hold with his free hand and pressed him hard against the mattress.

  “I love the sights of Christmas,” he said as he skimmed the icicle over Jase’s inner thighs. “I love how the icicles reflect the light when they’re wet and dripping.” Leon let the slick tip caress against Jase’s tight opening, circling it until Jase felt as if he would go out of his mind with the need to feel it pressing into him.

  Jase cried out as Leon pushed just the flared tip inside. His muscles clamped down, trying to pull the dildo further into his body, but Leon kept pressure on his hip as he continued to tease his opening. In small circles he moved the toy, never pushing it deeper or quickening his pace, just a slow, gentle pressure. Just enough to excite and stimulate but not enough to get him to that place his body wanted to be—no, needed to be.

  “I hate Christmas,” Jase panted in frustration.

  Leon seemed to want to torture him, torment him by keeping him on the edge of orgasm and not letting him fall into the depths of unspeakable pleasure. If this was his idea of convincing Jase that Christmas was a wonderful thing, he was going about it all wrong. Jase’s muscles were pulled as tight as a bowstring, and every cell in his body was screaming for release. Just when he thought he would break, when he was pushed to the brink of begging, Leon began easing the icicle further into his channel. Excruciatingly slowly.

  “Dripping wet,” Leon breathed against the head of Jase’s prick as he lowered his head.

  The slow stroke of the dildo combined with the heated breath pushed Jase further. He sighed in relief. Almost, almost there. Just a little faster, or Leon’s mouth a little closer, and he’d tumble into orgasm. His muscles began to tremble. The walls of his channel constricted around the toy, and the tingle at the base of his spine that signaled his approaching orgasm intensified. Throwing his head back, he panted, taking in deep gulps of breath to ready himself. A little more….