By Anam
December 2006
Adult M/M
slash, romance.
Featuring
Benny and Classic Ray. A New Year’s tale.
Disclaimer: I don’t own ‘em, they belong to their Moms, their wives, and
Please E-mail me at: [email protected]
“Now the
New Year reviving old Desires…”
-Edward
Fitzgerald, The Rubá'iyát
of Omar Khayyám, Edn. 1. 4
Ray rapped hard on the metal
door and pressed his badge against the dirty bulletproof window. A young police
officer glanced up at him with a frown and reached in his desk for the key. The
door clicked and swung open for the Italian detective and his guest.
Ray half-carried and
half-walked a disheveled man who was humming a broken tune. The old man reeked
of cheap whisky and stale urine.
“I have another one for
disorderly conduct,” Ray said to the uniformed officer. “A public nuisance with
garden-variety drunken behavior, and he’s all yours tonight.”
“I’ll take him in,
detective.” The officer dragged the offender to the nearest holding cell which
was becoming full of lost souls wandering aimlessly in circles.
Ray looked at the kid officer
in sympathy as he filled out his report at the desk. He remembered pulling
‘tank duty’ on New Year’s Eve night as a young rookie, receiving and processing
a countless number of drunks that had riddled the city streets like wounded
soldiers on a battlefield. Now as detective first-grade, Ray only picked them
randomly off of street corners at his own discretion. It was one of the few
added benefits of having higher rank.
Ray handed over his completed
paperwork with a flourish. “There you go, kid. I’m off duty now. Good night.”
“Happy New Year, Detective Vecchio,” said the young officer.
“Huh?” Ray glanced up at the
clock on the wall. It was almost twelve-thirty in the morning.
Ray silently cursed himself.
He had brought in the New Year with some jerk urinating on his leather shoes.
“Thanks.”
The detective walked out into
the cold night air and braced himself against the bitter chill that easily penetrated
his heavy overcoat. Ray felt that pulling ache in his chest again, an empty,
bottomless feeling that made him sigh aloud. He usually felt this dark funk on New
Year’s. He couldn’t explain why he always felt down on this particular day of
celebration. Maybe he was suffering from the holiday blues. Maybe he was coming
down from a sugar high of eating Christmas cookies for the past week.
He’ll get over it, he thought
as he warmed up the engine of the Riv. Somehow he
always did on New Year’s and life would carry on.
Ray had decided to drive
through
Ray wasn’t at all surprised
to see a light shining through Fraser’s apartment window, a beacon of self-imposed
exile and loneliness. The Canadian wasn’t at the party, but huddled by his
lantern either polishing his boots or whittling a stick.
“Typical Mountie,”
Ray grumbled to himself as he parked the Riv by the
curb and approached the entrance of the building.
“Hello, Ray! Happy New Year!”
Ray glanced up to see Fraser
looking out of his window and smiling down at him.
“Hey,
Benny!” Ray called up. “How did
you know I was here?”
“It’s your car engine, Ray.
It has a very distinctive sound.”
“What are you doing, Fraser?”
Ray shouted, annoyed with the crazy Canuck.
“Excuse me?”
“Sticking your head out of the
window like that on New Year’s Eve night! Stick it back in before somebody
shoots it off!”
“Yes, Ray.”
The cop marched wearily up
the flight of steps and he was actually relieved to see Fraser standing at the
threshold of his apartment, his door open in warm welcome. Fraser stared at
Ray’s socked feet in dismay.
“Where are your shoes, Ray?”
“Just another
casualty of war, Benny.”
Ray entered the kitchen and found
the nearest chair. He sat down with a tired sigh and stretched out his legs,
relieving the cold ache in his muscles. “You told me there was a party tonight at
the Consulate. Why aren’t you there?”
Fraser became distressed at
the direct question thrown at him, but he recovered quickly and reached for the
kettle.
“Well, since my presence at
the party wasn’t an official requirement I decided not to attend. I thought I
would make better use of my time by catching up on some reading that I have
neglected.” Fraser ducked his head and searched the cupboard for sugar and tea.
At this point Ray would have
argued with the man about his lack of a social life, about his need to get out
more and enjoy his manhood, but Ray knew the reason why Fraser had decided to
hide out in his apartment.
“Wasn’t up to it either,
huh?”
Fraser looked up at Ray and
they both stared at each other, sharing a mutual understanding. Ray silently nodded
and Fraser visibly relaxed.
“You could say that, Ray.”
“Yeah, I’ve never been much
into New Year’s myself. I guess it’s not my kind of holiday.”
Ray observed Diefenbaker
spread out shamelessly on the kitchen floor, fast asleep beside his empty food
dish. “So you’ve decided to party with a wolf instead?”
“I apologize for his rude
behavior, Ray. Diefenbaker ate rather too much tonight. Should you be home
now?”
“I just got off duty, Benny.
I had a busy night.”
“Ah, about that, Ray, I’m sorry
you had to work an extra shift tonight.”
“Welsh needed someone to work
on New Year’s Eve. Don’t worry about it.”
“Still I do feel responsible.
If I haven’t gotten you into trouble like that--”
“How were you supposed to
know that punk kid you bailed out of jail would set Welsh’s desk on fire? At
least we rescued some of his family photos.”
“Oh dear.” Fraser sighed.
“Well, it was a fitting end
to the year, Benny, with half the precinct going down in flames and me getting
more overtime for it.”
“That’s just silly, Ray.”
Ray laughed and sat back at
the kitchen table with his eyes closed. Fraser automatically prepared tea and
coffee for them both.
Benny glanced over his
shoulder at his friend. He noticed that Ray looked exhausted. That was to be
expected after a night shift on New Years’ eve, but Fraser knew it was
something more. It was something that seemed to dictate the cop’s mannerisms
and his outlook for the past several months. Ray had slowly transformed and
changed himself and he wasn’t aware of it.
But Fraser was aware of it,
very aware as if his life had depended on it.
“Er,
Ray? What did you mean when you said that New Year’s wasn’t your type of
holiday?” Fraser asked, trying hard not to sound concerned or worried, but
keeping the conversation casual and light.
“It’s nothing, really.”
“I would really like to know,
Ray.”
Ray shrugged his shoulders. “I
guess some people see New Year’s as a new beginning or a reason to celebrate
and get drunk. For me New Year’s usually reminds me of the mistakes I’ve made
in the past year.”
“Ah, I see.”
“I have to admit it’s been a
tough year, Fraser.”
Fraser felt himself crumple
inside. He knew exactly what Ray meant, what the source of his grief was. The lingering
aftermath of
Ray was staring out the
window, lost in his own thoughts and unbearably alone.
“Sometimes it feels like
you’re running on a treadmill, Benny. It keeps getting faster and faster and you
have no control. Then when it finally stops you find that you’re in the same
spot where you’ve started. You ran a marathon, but you’ve gone nowhere.”
“But that’s it, Ray. You’re
still here.”
“Is that supposed to be a
good thing, Benny?”
“Yes. I believe it is.”
“How so?”
“You have faced many
challenges this year and stayed to fight them all where others would have run
or given up. You know, Ray, in the Territories there are some flat terrains
where there are trees that stand permanently tilted in the direction of the
winds. These trees have withstood the full force of winter with no protection
afforded to them and yet they remain standing in the spot where they have been rooted
from birth. They have survived and prevailed, much like you have this past year.”
“Hmm.” Ray wrinkled his nose at the analogy. “So you’re
saying I’m like a tree?” Ray was impossibly smiling now.
“I guess I am, Ray.”
“What kind of tree?”
“Excuse me, Ray?”
“What kind of tree do you
think I am?”
“I not sure, Ray, maybe you’re
a fir or a maple.”
“Nah, I see myself as a
mighty oak, tall and strong with really huge acorns.”
Fraser sighed impatiently and
thumbed his eyebrow. “If you insist, Ray.”
Ray laughed quietly and
sipped his coffee. “Thanks for the compliment, Fraser.”
“You’re welcome, Ray. I have
rarely celebrated New Year’s myself. However, like you I do reflect on my past
actions and accomplishments.”
“You seem to clean up pretty
good, Fraser. You’ve made a home here. You have friends and co-workers who
respect you. Your neighbors think of you as their savior.”
“That’s all because of you,
Ray.”
“Because of
me?” Ray asked with genuine
surprise.
“Yes, Ray. Where would I be
now if it wasn’t for you?”
“I don’t understand.”
“I know some of my past actions
have brought you pain--”
Ray opened his mouth to
argue, but Fraser quickly held up his hand to silence him.
“Ray, this year I found that
I am human and that I can be this way is because of you. You did this for me, even
when it had hurt and wounded you. You did all this for me and I can’t think of
any of year where my life has been so complete. This past year I found my
heart.”
“Benny, I didn’t realize you
felt this way.”
“Right now I feel very
selfish.”
“Don’t feel selfish, Benny.
You deserve to be happy.”
“But what
about you, Ray?”
“What about me?”
“Do you feel you deserve to
be happy, too? Do you feel you deserve to find your heart like I have done?”
“I don’t know, Benny. Maybe I
do.” Ray shook his head sadly. “Just maybe…”
“This is a New Year for us,
Ray. Let’s us carry each other through it. Please don’t leave me out. Please
share this with me.”
Ray reached out and placed
his hand on Benny’s and the gentle gesture spoke volumes.
“I don’t want to leave you
out, Benny. I love you too much.”
Fraser caressed Ray’s cheek
with the back of his hand, his knuckles brushing over lightly whiskered skin. He
stroked Ray’s throat, feeling the man swallow his hesitation. He then touched
his lips to Ray’s mouth and Ray responded with a soft moan, and their kiss
became deeper, bolder.
When they finally pulled back
from their kiss they were surprised to find themselves wrapped tightly around
each other, their bodies pressed firmly together from their chests down to
their knees.
“Ray, will you do me the
honor of making love to me to bring in the New Year?”
“The New Year has already
arrived.”
“Well Ray, technically the West
Coast has not rung in the New Year yet.”
“I believe you’re right,
Benny.”
Fraser arched back as Ray
moved deep inside him, breathing and sweating his love. The sensations of Ray’s
firm hand wrapped around the base of his cock and his hard flesh sliding inside
him was devastating and beautiful. Fraser screamed aloud when Ray briefly touched
that sensitive knot of nerves deep within his body.
Ray stilled for a moment, almost
startled at his discovery and he then shifted his position on the bed, pulling
Fraser’s hips closer to his body. “Oh, Benny. I think
we just had an epiphany.”
“Yes, Ray,” Fraser panted,
hooking his legs over Ray’s bare shoulders. “We most certainly did.”
Ray felt like a different
man. No, he was a different man. The empty spot he had carried for so long in
his heart was now filled up by Benny. Ray rocked his hips again, pumping
himself hard into Fraser’s body.
Fraser shuddered hard, his
balls drawn up tight with his impending release. Ray wanted to keep this going,
to love this man as long as he can, but Fraser’s cries had finally unraveled
him. Pleasure swept through him like a fast-moving fire and he chased after it,
caught it, held on tight and fought to not let it go.
Ray came with a blissful cry
and Benny came quickly after him as Ray knew he would, their seed spilling
between the tight seal of their bodies. The fire between them smoldered and
burned, and heated them both long into the night.
<><><><>
Fraser woke up to the
sounds of clattering pots and pans accompanied by the plaintive whines of a half-wolf.
He turned himself over in bed and looked up to see Ray busy at the stove,
frying what appeared to be scrambled eggs. Diefenbaker was sitting close by and
eyeing Ray with a look of anticipation.
“Sorry, Dief. These
eggs are for Benny. Go beg for eggs somewhere else.”
Ray was wearing Fraser’s
jodhpurs and nothing else. The jodhpurs were loose around the cop’s narrow
waist and the suspenders draped over Ray’s slender shoulders made him look like
an X-rated Tom Sawyer. A sexual pang shot through Fraser as he witnessed the
arousing sight of his lover munching on some toast.
“Ray?”
“Morning, Fraser. You’re
probably wondering why I’m wearing your pants.”
“I assume it’s something
personal.”
“I can’t find my pants
anywhere, Fraser. I’ve ruined my shoes and now I have no pants. We have to look
for my pants later.”
Fraser managed to find his
robe and he pulled it on. He walked over to Ray’s side.
“If it’s any consolation, I
prefer you without your pants.”
Ray glared at him then he resumed
cooking their breakfast.
“You have anything going on
for New Year’s besides busting my chops, Benny?”
“I have no major plans today,
except for some reading and taking Diefenbaker for a walk in the park."
“You’re kidding me, right? We
made love last night and now you want to read and play fetch with furface?”
“Well, I can easily change my
plans to accommodate your needs, Ray.”
“That’s the answer I wanted
to hear.”
Fraser wrapped his arms tight
round Ray’s body. He delighted in the thought of spending the whole of New
Year’s Day with Ray in bed, but real life and a sense of duty still nibbled at
him. He didn’t show up for the party at
the Consulate and Ray didn’t return home last night, both men disappearing
under the sheets without a care in the world. Someone would have noticed their
absence, wouldn’t they?
“Do you think anybody will
miss us, Ray?”
“Probably not, you’re
annoying and I’m obnoxious.”
“That’s very true, but I think
we should tell somebody--"
“Fraser! I’ll send everybody
a fruit basket.”
“I guess that sounds
reasonable.”
“It’s the first day of a new
year, Benny,” Ray sighed. “Let’s start by making this our year. I know it sounds
selfish--.”
“It sounds like you’re in
love, Ray.”
Fraser
turned Ray around to face him. He pushed the suspenders gently off Ray’s
shoulders, letting the jodhpurs slide past Ray’s hips to puddle around his feet.
Fraser then dropped slowly to his knees, gazing fondly at the elegant curve of
Ray’s erect cock and his mouth watered. Their breakfast forsaken, Fraser wanted
nothing more to swallow Ray whole and drink him in, even if it later meant
paying the price in burnt eggs and black toast.
Ray then smiled, tenderly stroking
Benny’s chestnut hair. He waited with hungry yearning for Benny’s lips to press
against his sensitive flesh, for this amazing beginning in a new year for them
both.
“Happy New Year, Constable
Fraser.”
“Happy New Year, Detective Vecchio.”
-The End-
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