Take This Man Page 6

  “That’s adorable. I thought I was the straight one.”

  “No,” Toby said. “You’re the butch one. There’s a difference.” Azzo was built like a football player. It didn’t matter that he worked pastry for a living.

  “Is he—?” Azzo slowed their steps, putting a little more space between them and their friends ahead. The bar that the Injera staff—actually, most of the restaurant staff on their street—liked best wasn’t far. They could walk there after service and stumble home after beer. “I mean, I have my guess, but has he said anything to you?”

  “He’s gay,” Toby said. Mike hadn’t, actually, said anything to him, but he was too curious about Toby’s relationship to be just another straight college boy. “He didn’t say anything, but yeah.”

  Toby watched them up ahead, Mike turning back to check that he and Azzo were still behind them, flushing and whipping his eyes front when he saw Toby watching.

  “Look at that crush,” Azzo said, his voice warm against Toby’s ear. “He doesn’t know what to do with himself.”

  “What do you want to do with him?” Toby stared over at Azzo. “Should I be worried?”

  “Could be fun.”

  As the crowds grew, closer to the bars and clubs still open at this time of night, they walked apart, then came back together, their hands always tangled, never letting go. Azzo kept Toby on his left side, walking between him and the people standing outside for a smoke.

  “Could be fun?” Toby asked, incredulous and too loud over the music and conversation.

  “I’m not saying that. Jesus, Toby, what are you saying?”

  “You said ‘could be fun’!”

  Azzo laughed, pressing his forehead to Toby’s shoulders, and when Toby put his arms around him, he could feel Azzo shaking with it. “You’re so easy.” He smacked a kiss on Toby’s cheek, wet and loud. “Bet you’re thinking about it now.”

  Someone called their names from the far end of the bar. Toby had to stop to say hi to Veronika behind the bar, and she demanded a kiss from Azzo, too, who didn’t often come out with them. Toby went out after service less and less, too. They had done their time, when they were kids, in dingy bars like this.

  The back room was quieter, but not by much. The guys from Tanuki brought a huge platter of sushi, and Toby could smell roast chicken. The food at restaurant after-parties was the best.

  Josh and Lina, a couple they knew who also worked in separate restaurants, grabbed Azzo’s attention. Toby said hi, but they were all pastry chefs, and the conversation quickly turned shop. They held hands, and Toby stood close, pressing his chest to Azzo’s side, but he scanned the room, quietly enjoying the excitement between friends after such a long day.

  His eyes locked on Mike, leaning back against the bar. Toby gave him a smile. The look on Mike’s face wasn’t as obvious, and then he turned away. Toby was still watching as he talked to the bartender pulling pints, and when Mike walked their way he had three glasses in his two hands.

  “You looked thirsty,” he said, letting Toby take the beers from his hands. Toby passed one to Azzo, who raised it in a toast of thanks.

  “Keep this one, Toby.” Azzo turned fully toward Mike, holding Toby with a hand low on his back, their bodies curved together. “This is your job now,” Azzo explained to Mike. “Making sure my neurotic husband doesn’t implode by the end of the night.”

  “Is he prone to doing that?” Mike asked. He took a big gulp of his beer, keeping his face in the glass.

  “No,” Toby argued. “I’m extremely capable and very professional.”

  Azzo chuckled deep in his chest. “He’s high-strung, and a Saturday night theater crowd will send him hiding in the kitchen.”

  “I never hide,” Toby said, but he admitted to himself that he liked seeing Mike and Azzo getting along, even if it was at his own expense. Their tiny circle of three felt like an island in the big room filled with chefs, cooks, bartenders, servers and the rest of the late night crowd. They were turned and tuned into each other, and the way Mike kept looking the two of them up and down, Toby was ready to invite him somewhere quiet.

  “How about coffee?” Azzo said, his beer not even half-empty. Toby was only sipping his. He already felt light-headed, in the stuffy back room, with Azzo holding him so close.

  Mike nodded along with Azzo’s suggestion. His eyes were glassy and unfocused, but not from the beer, Toby could tell. He could tell by the way Mike was sure on his feet, but his free hand was rubbing over his thigh, wiping dry his sweaty palms, and when Toby looked down, he saw Mike hard in his trousers.

  “There will be more of these parties,” Azzo said. “You’re not missing much.”

  He led them both to the bar, where they dropped their glasses. Toby took one more gulp of beer, then they slipped out without saying good-bye. He wasn’t ready to explain this to Mo or Josh and Lina or Veronika behind the bar. Toby wasn’t sure he could explain this at all.

  “This isn’t where I thought the night would end up,” Mike admitted. “Do you guys do this a lot?”

  Azzo laughed, a single bark in the empty alleyway. “We’ve never done this before.”

  “We don’t have to do this,” Toby said. He reached out and took Mike’s hand when he said it. “It’s just an idea, a bit of a fantasy.”

  “How long have you two been together?”

  Smiling, Azzo pulled Toby back to him. He rubbed his nose over Toby’s cheek. “Twenty-two years.”

  “Jesus,” Mike said. He ducked his head, and when he looked back up at them, he grinned and said, “I’m twenty-two.”

  Azzo’s car was about a block away, parked behind his restaurant. He opened the passenger side first, kissing Toby against the open door. Toby was already hardening in his pants, feeling that lovely edge that meant he would get to come soon. When they pulled away from each other’s lips, Mike was staring, though he looked away as soon as Toby looked up. He didn’t want to be caught, but Toby caught him.

  He dragged Mike against the car by the belt around his waist. His steps stuttered into Toby, but his kiss was sure, confident, though the rest of him was nervous. Fingers clenched and released at his sides as Mike leaned into Toby, into the kiss that was moving beyond the first dry press of lips to tongues and teeth and the taste of them both.

  “I like it,” Azzo said, his hands landing on Mike’s shoulders to hold him steady. Azzo kissed him from behind, sucking a mark on the pale expanse of his long neck. Toby leaned back against the door so he could watch. He held on to Mike’s belt, sneaking his fingers up under his shirt so he could stroke the soft skin and jumping muscles while Azzo made his mark on Mike. “Let’s go home,” he said, opening the door and, with his hand on Mike’s head, guiding him into the backseat.

  When he straightened, Azzo leaned into Toby again, whispering against his lips, “I can’t wait.”

  Toby watched Mike in the rearview mirror. He thought about asking how the kid was doing, but he was calm, his eyes closed, and his head leaned back against the seat. He wasn’t asleep. Toby could tell from his breathing, slow and regular, but deliberate. Mike had his fists clenched in the seat on either side of his thighs. He was hanging on for dear life. Toby left him alone, but he was pretty to watch.

  They hadn’t ever done this before; that much was true. Toby and Azzo had talked about threesomes before. But when you get together in college and stay together for two decades, you don’t play the same games that single people do.

  He couldn’t explain why tonight was the right time, why Mike was the right third, why Toby wanted to do this.

  “I’m happy with you,” he said, putting his hand on Azzo’s on the steering wheel.

  “I know,” Azzo said, taking a bare second to glance over.

  Toby took his hand back. He caught a glimpse of Mike in the backseat, and Mike was looking back. “He is very cute,” Toby said, matching grin for grin with his companions in the car.

  Azzo laughed. His laugh was the best, the best part of T
oby’s life, and he heard it every single day.

  Toby walked ahead once they were home, opening his own car door before Azzo could do it for him, and leaving the front door ajar for when they decided to join him. He went straight upstairs. An hour ago, Toby didn’t know this was going to happen. Now he wanted it. Now he was hard for it. Now he had the time to think about how it would go and what he wanted.

  He stripped the covers off the bed and found condoms and lube, tossing them on the pillow. He rinsed his mouth quickly, because there was no time for brushing, stripped his clothes straight into the hamper, and wandered back to the bedroom to find a clean pair of briefs.

  Downstairs, he heard the door slam shut. The sound made his cock jerk, and then there were steps on the stairs, and Mike laughing, so different from Azzo. He heard Azzo, too, then the sound was muffled, and Toby knew kissing was happening.

  He watched from the doorway, waiting for his husband and their new friend to join him. They were beautiful together, in the way that opposites are beautiful. In color, size, experience, Azzo and Mike were nothing alike. But they fit. Azzo fit his arms around Mike’s shoulders, sheltering him from Toby’s view, except for those long white arms twined around Azzo’s back.

  “Toby,” Azzo said, bringing Mike to him, like they were being introduced for the first time. “See how hard he is?”

  Toby put his hand on Mike’s thick cock, still pushing its way out of his foreskin, still growing to its full, proud size. He leaned down to kiss Mike’s shoulder, along the line of his collarbone, and down to his pink nipples. He licked them and pulled at them with his teeth until the tight peaks were circled with goose bumps, spreading across Mike’s chest as Toby licked his way down further.

  “I didn’t know,” Mike said, shaking his head against Azzo. With his arms crossed over Mike’s chest, Azzo continued what Toby started with his nipples. He tweaked them with his big fingers, making Mike gasp and pant. “I didn’t know it could feel like this.”

  “And we’re just getting started,” Azzo said.

  Before that fat cock tempted Toby down to his knees on the hardwood floor, he straightened, grabbed hold of Mike around his hips and dragged them both into the bedroom. They sat on the edge of the bed, Mike between them. He was twitchy, and Toby wondered if it was nerves or arousal.

  “Take a breath,” Azzo said.

  Toby put his hand on Mike’s back. “We can stop right here.”

  “No,” he yelped. “I want to do this,” he said, nuzzling into Toby like a cat into the hand scratching its head. “I haven’t done this before, but I want to do this.”

  “When you say haven’t?” Azzo asked. He had his hand on Mike’s thigh, high up, and his fingers were rubbing over the soft inner skin. “You mean this specifically, right? A threesome?”

  “Yes,” Mike said, turning to smile, a bit shy, at Azzo on his other side. He nuzzled into him, too, and when the nuzzle turned into a kiss, and the kiss turned dirty and deep, the two of them fell back onto the bed. Mike curled into Azzo, leaving his bare ass up for Toby’s enjoyment.

  The kid was fit, tight like a runner might be, not muscles all over, but not flabby. He was so white, but Toby figured that’s how all blonds were, light skin and gorgeous blue eyes. The hair on his legs was so fine and light as to be invisible. It was the same around his hole, which clenched beautifully when Toby pulled his cheeks apart.

  “Can I?” he asked. Toby kissed Mike right above the crease, rubbing his nose back and forth, just to see more goose bumps.

  He heard Mike’s breathy answer above. “Yes,” he said into Azzo’s chest, muffled, but insistent.

  Pressing his face into Mike, Toby pulled a breath deep into his lungs. He swept his tongue wide and flat over the hole, which was desperate to open now. With Azzo taking care of Mike’s mouth, Toby focused his attention right here, this one point in the universe, and the tight space beyond.

  The lube was right there for him, so Toby squeezed some out onto his fingers, and when his tongue wasn’t enough for Mike, he pushed two slick fingers inside. Mike bucked against Azzo, who held him tight around his shoulders.

  “More,” Azzo told Toby. “The kid wants more.”

  Toby gave him three fingers. Then Toby twisted those fingers, up and at an angle, and he found the button he was looking for. When Toby added another finger, the keening noise Mike made was almost too much. He almost made Toby come, pulsing around his fingers and sucking him farther inside.

  Azzo was moving up the bed. He was still wearing his shirt, though it was unbuttoned now. He was the last of them still clothed, and now Azzo guided Mike’s head down to his fly, encouraging the kid to go exploring.

  Toby was all ready to fuck him, but there was a delicious scene happening in front of him. His husband on his back, hands in Mike’s hair, and that big cock of his just poking out of his boxer shorts, through the open fly of his jeans. He watched Azzo’s face as Mike sucked him down, watched for the surprise and the pleasure, Azzo’s tongue caught between his teeth, and his eyes rolling back.

  “He’s good,” Toby said. “Isn’t he good, Az?” With his fingers still inside Mike, Toby matched the rhythm, pushing in when Mike sucked down, taking Azzo’s hard cock all the way into his throat. Toby pulled his fingers out, teasing the rim of Mike’s hole, when Mike dragged his mouth off, until only his lips were touching the dripping head of the erection he held with both hands. They kept that up, moving syrup slow because that’s how Azzo liked it and that’s how Toby guided Mike.

  “Pass me a condom?” Toby had to finally remove his fingers because he couldn’t do this left-handed. He stroked a gentle hand over Mike’s back as he eased his fingers out, all four of them, and he felt a shiver when Mike made the most glorious moan around Azzo’s cock.

  He was quick to rip the foil open with his teeth, roll the condom down on his own erection that was demanding some attention, and use his already-slick fingers to prepare his cock. Mike’s hole was ready, too, opening and closing like a hungry mouth as the younger man’s hips moved against the bed.

  Toby draped himself over Mike’s back, sucking a kiss on the back of his neck and riding his up-and-down rhythm on Azzo’s cock. “You’re doing so good, baby,” he said, scraping his teeth over the curve of Mike’s ear. “Listen to him groan. Azzo loves your mouth, Mike.”

  Hands on Mike’s shoulders, Toby pushed himself up to reach Azzo’s mouth. He wanted to taste those grunts and groans for himself. Toby mashed their lips together, opening his mouth wide when Azzo pushed his tongue inside. “Okay,” Toby said, his voice rough with arousal, wavering like his cock, pressed between Mike’s asscheeks. “I’m going to fuck him now.”

  Azzo said, “Yes, fuck him now.”

  For all they had talked about this particular fantasy, Toby never believed it would happen. Finding himself here, in bed with his husband, this eager twenty-two-year-old between them, Toby needed a moment to think. He ran his hand down Mike’s back, tracing the goose bumps and feeling how Mike’s muscles jumped as Toby touched him. He was real. He was young. He was choking on Azzo’s cock, and he wanted Toby to fuck him.

  “Sit up, baby,” Toby said. He grabbed Mike around his hips and eased him back, off Azzo, onto his haunches to sit back against Toby’s chest. Toby’s cock was ready, pressing up against Mike’s ass. “You’re okay,” he said, rubbing a comforting hand over Mike’s belly. He was panting, with his head resting on Toby’s shoulder. “Tell me you want this.”

  “I want this,” Mike said, no hesitation in his voice, just the rough, used sound of a cocksucking throat. “I want this,” Mike said, more forcefully. “Fuck me.”

  Toby had to fuck him. He reached down between their bodies, grasping himself at the base and guiding his slick and condom-covered cock into Mike, straight up. It was one easy push, and they were joined. Mike’s hand flailed at his side before Azzo caught him, pressed in close to hold Mike between their chests, and he put Mike’s hands on his cock to finish the job. Azzo was s
till hard, Mike was panting in his ear, and Toby set them a rhythm like breathing.

  In and out, until Mike was bouncing in his lap, squeezing his ass around Toby’s cock to make it good and opening himself up to make it deep. Toby put his mouth on Mike from behind, just trying to hang on, make it last. He couldn’t believe how long the kid could go.

  Mike made Azzo come first, folding his body into a beautiful curve to put his mouth on Azzo’s cock and swallow down his orgasm. Toby held his husband’s hand through it all, and he felt when it was too much and when Azzo was ready to let go. He felt Azzo come into the body between them.

  Toby took his time, digging his teeth into Mike’s shoulder when his orgasm rushed inside him. Mike was stroking his own cock, whimpering, dragging himself to the finish line, like he was the only one who would, like Toby and Azzo wouldn’t be there to take care of him.

  “I’ll get you there,” Toby said. He thrust his hips up as he pulled Mike back into his lap, driving his cock deeper. He wanted to get Mike there first. Toby wanted to feel him around his cock. Toby didn’t want to come until Mike was shouting out his orgasm and squeezing himself around Toby’s cock.

  The feel of it, that tight passage, sucking Toby inside and holding him there. Mike was holding them together, and Toby did the same, one arm across Mike’s chest and the other, his hand on Mike’s hand, pulling until Mike had nothing left to shoot, until Azzo’s heaving chest was splattered with come, until Toby let out a roar against Mike’s skin and came, too, deep inside Mike’s ass.

  Limp, heavy and tired, Toby guided them down onto the bed next to where Azzo was still recovering. Mike lay between them, cradled with Toby’s cock in his ass and Azzo’s hands in his hair.

  “That was new,” Azzo said, because he was the only one who could wrap his mouth around words. Mike laughed, and Toby felt it in his own body, almost too much, like another orgasm too soon. He pulled his cock out and flopped, sweaty, on his side of the bed. Azzo had Mike in his arms now, brushing his fingers through his hair and asking soft questions Toby could barely hear.