V: The V in Vigilant

Vicreached out with his mind. :: Hope you can be quick. I’m goingto fall asleep in a minute.::
Matt laughed as he shut the drawer. “Am Iboring you?”
Before Vic could answer, the bed shookbeneath him and then he felt Matt’s glorious weight on his buttocksas his lover straddled his legs. There was a wet raspberry sound asMatt squeezed something into his palms—lube, most likely, and Vicwaited to feel the first cool drops of gel on his skin. But whathappened next was a pleasant surprise. Matt’s warm, wet handslanded not on Vic’s thighs or ass but on his shoulders, fingersalready kneading as the palms worked pliant flesh. Beneath theimpromptu massage, Vic sighed as every muscle in his body relaxed.“Yes.”
“Like that?” Matt dug in, really grindingagainst Vic in an effort to work out the tension that had settledinto his muscles. The bed shook slightly from the effort, but Vicmelted at his lover’s touch. “Let me loosen you up and thenwe’ll move onto the main attraction.”
Vic couldn’t complain. He lay beneath Matt’sloving ministrations, the occasional grunt or sigh that escaped himan indication of just how wonderful a job Matt was doing. Allthought disappeared—his mind opened to Matt, and he let his lover’smemories of the day roll through him like a movie reel. There wasSadie at the door, scratching to be let out once she knew Vic wason his way home. The dog again, at the park this afternoon, chasinga squirrel as Matt ran after the leash that had somehow escaped hishand. The near-miss he almost had in picking her up, and thestarstruck schoolgirl who had waited with Sadie for Matt to arrive.The cool splash of water in the gym’s pool, the hot shower Matt hadtaken before leaving work, Roxie leafing through a magazine in hisoffice…
Without warning, Matt clamped down on thatmemory, cutting it off before Vic could get a good look at it. Thatwas strange—there were no secrets between the two men. Pushinghimself up on his elbows, Vic frowned over his shoulder at hislover. “What’s that all about?”
A thin blush crept up Matt’s cheeks, givinghim a flushed appearance. “Relax for me, will you?” he asked,rubbing warm oil into Vic’s thick neck. When Vic didn’t move, Mattgripped his shoulders and tried to push him back down withoutsuccess. “Come on, Vic. You know there’s nothing I’m hiding fromyou.”
Vic peeked into Matt’s mind and imaginedpounding on the brick wall he found blocking his lover’s thoughts.::Just this. Rox?::
Matt blushed harder. “It’s not what youthink.”
“What do I think?”
The question was designed to open Matt to himagain, and it worked. Tentatively Matt eased into Vic’s thoughts,brushing over them at first, then delving in deeper to see whatmight be going on inside his mind. Vic waited until Matt wasdistracted, then pounced. Without difficulty he found the memory ofRoxie in Matt’s office, and like a schoolyard bully he plucked itdeftly from Matt’s head. ::Hey!:: Matt cried, scrambling toshut Vic out a second time.
But they’d been together for so long, Vicknew just how to circumvent his lover. Quickly he watched thememory play out—Roxie leaned against the door to Matt’s office,leafing through a magazine and making the occasional sound ofannoyance when Matt didn’t hang up the phone to chat. Finally shesnapped, tossed the magazine at Matt, and stormed out.
Vic watched it a second time, frowning.::What’s so bad about that?::
::Nothing.:: Matt took the memory backand tucked it away, then stretched out above Vic to lay along hislover’s back. Their bodies seemed to meld into one. When he spoke,his words echoed through Vic. “I told you. It was nothing.”
Confused, Vic rolled onto his side. Behindhim Matt shifted to the opposite side, sliding off into the spaceVic had just vacated on the bed. As Vic wrapped a strong arm aroundMatt’s shoulders, Matt rested his head beside Vic’s on his lover’sbent elbow, a breath away from Vic’s face. “Did you see what shewas reading?” he whispered.
Vic rubbed along Matt’s bare back. Hoping toelicit a smile, he teased, “Did she find your porn mags? I thoughtyou weren’t going to take them to work.”
Startled, Matt laughed and snuggled closer toVic. “I’m not the one with porn mags, Mr. TattooTwinks.”
Vic’s smile slipped. “One, it’s just calledTattoo, and two, just because they’re naked doesn’t make itporn. I haven’t even looked at a nudie rag since you movedin and you know it.”
Kissing the tip of Vic’s nose, Matt draped anarm over his lover’s hip and fisted one meaty buttock in his hand.“Three, you don’t like twinks. You like me.”
Vic didn’t argue. “Exactly. You’re a bit morebuilt than most twinks I’ve heard tell about. Not that I wouldknow…”
Another kiss, this one on Vic’s mouth tosilence him. “Of course, not you.”
::I’m not the one who used to hang out inthe weight room for cheap thrills,:: Vic thought, broadcastinginto Matt’s mind.
::Cheap thrills?:: Matt countered.::Dude, I got what I wanted, didn’t I?::
He punctuated that with another quick squeezeof Vic’s ass. Their kiss deepened, and Matt’s still-slick fingersworked their way along the crevice between Vic’s cheeks, seekingthe tender center of his being. Vic raised his leg onto Matt’sthigh like an invitation, spreading himself wide for his lover. Butjust as the tip of Matt’s forefinger rimmed his quivering hole, Vicbroke their kiss to murmur, “So what was Roxie reading?”
Matt’s eyes opened in a daze. “What?”
“In your office.” Reaching back, Vic caughtMatt’s wrist and held it tight to stop its exploration. “Thisafternoon. What was she reading that you didn’t want me tosee?”
For a moment, Matt studied him, silent. Onecorner of his mouth puckered in where he bit the inside of his lip.Vic waited, unsure of what might be forthcoming. He couldn’timagine anything that might upset him enough that Matt didn’t wantto share it—hell, even pornos wouldn’t be all that bad. Mattwas only human, not a saint. The man could still look. Theposes in the Kama Sutra book he’d given Vic for Christmasone year were about as obscene as they came. If Roxie hadbeen flipping through porn, Vic only hoped Matt would bring it hometo share instead of leaving it in her hands.
But when Matt finally spoke, the words heuttered were