Tentacle on 34th Street (Tinsel and Tentacles 2.0)

Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15

T hree days into their Aspen vacation, full-scale war broke out.

The kind that was waged with snowballs, not bullets, thankfully.

After breakfast, Cryss had suggested they build a snowman. According to the movies Qylar had made him watch, building a snowman was the perfect activity for a little romance. It had started off sweet enough, with them working together, but one jokingly thrown snowball had devolved into all-out war. One he rapidly lost. How was he to know that his human had a competitive streak and perfect aim?

Alex was the clear winner, until Cryss tackled him and tossed him over one shoulder, headed for the house.

“That’s cheating,” Alex howled. “We were having a snowball fight, not a wrestling match.”

Cryss spanked Alex’s ass. “Wrestling sounds like more fun, doesn’t it?”

“Says the defeated,” Alex muttered.

Cryss crossed the threshold and shut the door. He set Alex on the couch facing the fireplace— daring the man to move an inch — and tossed a few logs into it. Within a few minutes he had a roaring fire to ward off the chill. With that comfort taken care of, he knelt at Alex’s feet to take care of another. He held Alex’s heated stare as he removed his human’s wet boots, socks, coat, and gloves and placed them near the fire to dry, adding his own.

He knelt again at his human’s feet, rubbing his palms on Alex’s denim-clad thighs. “These are wet. Best get them off before you catch a chill.”

The fire shone in Alex’s widening pupils, his lips parting as he dragged a ragged breath into his lungs. Cryss unhooked the button and dragged the zipper down as slow as he could before spreading the man’s knees apart. He slid both hands under and behind Alex’s ass. Gripping the back of the waistband, he dragged the jeans to just under Alex’s bottom, accidentally taking the base layer and briefs with them. Casualties of war, they’d have to be taken, too. After he’d tugged them the rest of the way off, he tossed the lot of them across the living room, not looking where they fell.

He couldn’t look away from the smoldering in Alex’s gaze. Rising on his knees, he peeled Alex’s layers of sweater, shirt, and base over his human’s head and tossed them in the same direction. The fire’s light danced over Alex’s bare skin, making it glow. Cryss wasn’t sure if he wanted to kiss and nibble every inch of it or continue the game he’d begun outside.

Alex shivered.

“We should get you closer to the fire,” Cryss said in muted tones.

“Aren’t you going to take your wet things off first?” Alex asked.

Cryss heaved his sweater over his head and tossed it aside. Rising, he peeled off his damp jeans and thermal shirt, adding them to the growing pile. When all he had was his briefs, he knelt again, sliding his palms along Alex’s thighs. Once his hands reached the man’s lower back, he dragged Alex off of the couch to straddle his thighs. With a spin and a stretch, he pinned Alex to the rug directly in front of the fire. Cryss gripped both of his wrists over his head in one hand, savoring the sultry gasp he made. Alex arched his back under Cryss, his eyes quickly growing hooded and heavy.

Cryss panted, his cock growing as hard as his human’s pressed against his thigh.

“How’d you get so good at throwing snowballs? I thought it rarely snowed in the Outer Banks?”

“One grandma lived in Maine. She taught me all she knew. It’s all about the powder and the packing—and a damned good aim.”

“You’ve been waiting to bombard me since we got here, haven’t you?”

Alex feigned an innocent look, grinning ear-to-ear. “Maybe.”

“Maybe?” Cryss whispered, rubbing his nose against Alex’s icy one, their mouths less than an inch apart.

Alex lifted to meet his lips, but Cryss just barely got away in time.

“I thought I could have all the kisses I wanted?” Alex asked, breathless.

Cryss lowered his head again, their lips a whisper apart. The corners of his lips pulled up. “That was yesterday. Today… I’m going to make you work for them.”

One of Alex’s brows lifted as his smile turned petulant. “You’re only torturing yourself when you torment me. Maybe I should deny you a kiss and see how you like it.”

“Reverse psychology doesn’t work on me.” He swooped lower for a kiss but stopped a spilt second away. “Considering I’m the one in control here, I don’t know if you could’ve stopped me if it had.”

“You’re in control? We both know I could stop you at any second.”

Cryss rose on his arm. “Oh, really? We know that?”

“If I told you to get off of me this very second, you would.”

Alex wasn’t wrong. He held all the cards in all the hours of the day— unless it came to his safety or well-being. Then Cryss wouldn’t budge. “I don’t know if I should be irritated that you know that, or smug to hear it.”

“Smug?” Alex wore a bemused smile. “I think you should be annoyed, as it was intended.”

Cryss trailed a hand up Alex’s flank, his fingertips barely grazing the skin. Alex trembled under him. “I think I’ll go with smug. If you know that I’d stop—which I would, by the way—that means I’ve earned something very valuable.”

“Oh? What’s that?”

Cryss captured Alex’s gaze. “Your trust.”

The humor in his human’s expression ebbed as longing took control. But it wasn’t only longing, though. Cryss detected affection in the depths that could blossom into love if nurtured. The need to tell Alex his truth clawed inside him. How could he earn his human’s love with lies and secrets trapped between them?

He swallowed the lump in his throat, unable to speak for a moment. Fear wrapped its icy talons around him, and it was clear his human saw a glimmer of the war within. His brow furrowed slightly, as if he sensed the duplicity Cryss attempted to hide. That affection that had nearly dragged the truth from his lips faded away, doubt replacing it. His inability to be truly vulnerable would be his downfall and might lose him the love he craved with every breath.

“Do I have yours?” Alex whispered. “I’m not sure that I do.”

“Of course, you do,” he lied, hating the way it tasted on his tongue. Withholding was one thing but lying another. Instead of nurturing love, he cultivated the doubt with that lie.

He didn’t deserve Alex’s trust. Not when he couldn’t fully give the man his.

Cryss might not have the courage to give Alex his whole self, but his lusts were open wide. It might be a sorry consolation prize, but at least his human would know pleasure, if not love. He’d drive Alex to the edge and back and watch the man shatter in his arms again and again.

He tightened his grip on Alex’s wrists, kicking the man’s feet apart until he could press between both thighs. Cryss rolled his hips, rubbing his cotton-covered cock against Alex’s. The thin barrier of fabric couldn’t hold back the heat coming off his human’s aching shaft.

Cryss closed his eyes in a desperate reach for control. A shiver later, he reopened and noted all the signs of just how hungry his human was. He was glad for it. Two days without having Alex under him was the length and breadth of his endurance, it seemed.

He released his grip on Alex’s wrists and reached inside the inner pocket of his jacket. Setting the small silver box on the floor within reach, Cryss eyed the man and the hint of a smirk on his lips.

“Did you plan to fuck me outside in the snow?”

“Of course not, but who knew what might happen after,” Cryss murmured.

“I bet you made one hell of a Boy Scout. Always prepared.”

Cryss snickered before he crawled lower, dropping kisses along Alex’s ribcage in his wake and dragging the silver box lower. By the time he reached the most eager part of his human, a heavy pearl of pre-cum leaked over the glans and slid down the shaft. Cryss gathered his lover’s seed with his tongue, the flavor washing over it. He trailed his tip down the other side before engulfing the entire length in his mouth. Alex’s back bowed, a rasping inhale barely heard over the crackle of the fire. Cryss used every ounce of skill and knowledge to bring a screaming orgasm from his human minutes later.

Before Alex had time to recover, Cryss lay the foundation for the next. The two lube-coated fingers Cryss had worked inside his hole gently massaged Alex’s prostate until the man thrashed his head, whimpering and begging for more. He increased the pace until he sensed Alex hung on the edge. Cryss rose to his knees, then used them to wedge under Alex’s thighs. After shoving his briefs down enough to free his erection, Cryss urged one of Alex’s legs higher with his only free hand, wishing he could use his tentacles to jostle the man into perfect alignment. Alex got the message, pulling his legs toward his shoulders and opening his hole to Cryss.

He primed Alex for what came next, waiting until his human’s pupils were blown and the violent shakes came to thrust past his massaging fingers and slide deep inside the man he loved.

Alex roared, head thrown back, as the anal orgasm crested and stiffened his body. He held his breath for several seconds, his red face a mask of anguished pleasure. Cum leaked from his cock, and his inner thighs trembled as Cryss continued to work those fingers against his prostate, dragging every ounce of pleasure out of the anal orgasm.

Collapsing back against the floor, limp and spent, Alex quivered. Cryss drew his fingers out and leaned forward, hooking Alex’s ankles over his shoulder. He captured his human’s gaze as he sought his own release. His thrusts brought aftershocks. Alex trembled again here and there, avidly watching Cryss’s charge toward the edge. He clutched his hole, seizing Cryss in a decadent, snug grip.

“I think I could love him…”

Alex’s whispered thought hurled him over the edge. He roared as he came, his orgasm radiating through every nerve ending, frying out the ends. Cryss shivered, narrowly holding back an egg from emerging along with his last jet of cum. He gasped for air, stunned he’d nearly bred his human. Not that it would’ve took. Human males had no egg sack to allow a child to flourish.

But it would’ve been large enough that Alex might’ve sensed it slide out of him. Questions might’ve followed—questions Cryss wasn’t prepared to answer. He slowly withdrew from Alex’s body and rolled to his side, collecting his human into his arms. They lay by the fire, Alex’s head on his chest. He gently tousled his human’s hair, the crackle and warmth of the fire soothing him.

“I wish we could stay like this forever,” Alex whispered.

“We can,” Cryss murmured. “I’ll buy you a house on the mountain, and we’ll never look back.”

Alex chuckled. “That shouldn’t sound as tempting as it does.”

“Why not?”

Alex rolled himself up, still seeming somewhat boneless. He faced Cryss, his back to the fire. Shadows cast over his face, making it hard to see what Alex was feeling. “I don’t understand why I feel this way about you. In all honesty, it scares me a little.”

Cryss caressed Alex’s cheek. “Don’t be afraid. I’ll always protect you.”

“I barely know you. You barely know me. But…”

“But what?”

“It feels…” Alex paused, frowning. “It feels like we’ve known each other for eons. It doesn’t make sense.”

Cryss rolled to his side, lifting to his elbow so he could trace his fingertips over Alex’s cheek. “Perhaps our souls were once star-crossed lovers. In another place… in another time… we lived and loved… and lost. It was a love so great it refused to be kept parted forever and found a way in us.”

“Is that what you believe this is?”

Cryss held Alex’s stare, obscured by shadow. “I don’t know, but it sure sounds good, doesn’t it?” He smiled wanly, running a fingertip along the line where shadow met light on Alex’s throat. “We’ll never learn the why of it, more than likely. Either we give in or risk losing it.”

“Have you given in?”

Cryss wouldn’t lie again. It had hurt too much the last time. “One hundred percent?” Tears stung the backs of his eyes. “No.” He collected himself a moment. “This feeling frightens me, too, Alex. Letting go and giving in terrifies me. Because when I do, you will hold my heart in your hand and have the ability to destroy me.”

“I would never…”

But you could. If Alex didn’t accept who he was, he didn’t know if he’d ever recover from the loss.

Alex caressed the side of Cryss’s cheek. “I’m glad you told me you were scared, too. I thought I was the one holding back and not jumping in with both feet. You seemed so sure and so ready to dive in.”

“I am sure this is something special. That’s where my confidence lies. That and the hope that time will allow us to let go of our doubts. It’s why I asked you to spend the holidays with me. To give us that time.” Cryss brushed back the tousled hair over Alex’s ear. “You have every right to be cautious with your heart. I need to earn your love.”

Alex leaned forward, stealing a kiss. Cryss drew Alex back down to the soft rug and into the crook of his arm, questioning whether he could find the courage to expose himself before it was too late.

A lex’s eyelids fluttered as he awoke the following morning, the sky outside dark and gray. Outside the massive windows, snow fell fast and furious, in heavy clumps. Even though it was warm in bed, snuggled against Cryss, he shivered at the sight of it.

“Are you cold?” Cryss whispered. “I can throw another log on the fire.”

“I’m not. The sight of that snow tricked my brain for a second.” He flung his head back and smiled up at Cryss. “Morning.”

Cryss kissed him, smiling seductively. “Morning.” He slid a hand down Alex’s chest and stomach, stopping at the morning erection pressed against his thigh. “Want a little hand with that wood?”

“I think you shattered me enough yesterday morning, thank you. My brain hasn’t reconnected all the wires yet after that one.”

“Those two, ” Cryss corrected. “I clearly counted two screaming, shaking orgasms.”

“And you only got one,” Alex muttered. “If anyone deserved help with morning wood, it would be you, but you get up too damned early.”

“I won’t say this again. There’s no keeping score. I derive immense pleasure knowing I left you a boneless, trembling puddle on the floor.”

“Why do you think that is? Is it a power thing?”

Cryss looked thoughtful a moment. “I don’t know if I’ve ever thought too long and hard about it. It’s just the way I’m wired. I supposed the ability to control someone’s body, and their response to what I do with it, is some of the allure, but it simply turns me on. I struggle to enjoy myself if I take without giving.” He glanced down at Alex. “For you, it’s doubly so. I could literally spend an entire day or two making you orgasm over and over without having a physical release myself—and feel just as satisfied as I would if I’d come every time you had.”

“Do you consider yourself a pleasure Dom?”

“The term Dom implies BDSM in my mind, and while a little bondage here and there is fun, I don’t do pain. I don’t get off on humiliation or degradation. Though, I am fairly dominant and maybe that’s enough—but I don’t know. It just doesn’t feel like me. Someone else with the same exact tastes may relish that title, who knows?”

“A service top, then?” Alex asked.

Cryss considered that a moment. “A service top does enjoy giving pleasure, but I see that as a submissive role. I’m not submissive. I won’t be ordered around by a bottom or be given step-by-step instruction. I know what I’m doing. I watch. I pay attention. I learn a man’s body and gauge his reactions. The more I learn, the better I get at giving him what he needs and pushing his boundaries.” Cryss shrugged. “I don’t do titles or labels. All I know is, I won’t get off unless I’ve shattered you a time or two.” He grinned. “Or three or four or five…”

“I don’t care about labels, either,” Alex murmured. “I’m figuring you out.”

“Am I a puzzle?”

“You are when I’ve spent my entire adult life with men who more often than not sought their own needs first instead of mine. Where pleasure given meant pleasure was demanded in return. Quid pro quo.” Alex chuckled dryly. “I’ve been so worried about trying to keep up and return the favor that I’d started to feel guilty for taking too much.”

“You haven’t taken too much,” Cryss replied. “You never could.”

“Does that mean I can ask for one of those days as my Christmas present?” Alex asked, grinning. “I don’t need anything else. No expensive gifts. Nothing material. Just a day of orgasms.”

“It’s hard to call that a gift when it’s a present for me, too, but you can absolutely have that. Just know that I plan to give you days of orgasms as often as you’ll let me. No saving them up for Christmas.”

Alex shivered against Cryss. Knowing his pleasure excited the man that much changed his perspective on their dynamic. He’d been so worried about keeping up and giving Cryss as good as he got, that he’d not considered he might be getting in the way. “You know that my body is yours to use, right?”

Cryss’s gaze heated.

“Now that I know this is what truly gets you off,” Alex murmured, reaching for Cryss’s hand. “I’ll surrender to you and your need to control my body and my orgasms… and stop keeping tabs.” He lowered Cryss’s hand to his hard shaft. “As long as you take what you need whenever you need it.” He covered Cryss’s hand with his own as he pumped it over his cock, hissing with pleasure. “And you communicate those needs. Don’t leave me…” He paused, moaning. He let go and let Cryss take over. “Don’t leave me guessing when you need me to give.”

Cryss rolled him to his back and knelt between his splayed thighs, fist flying over Alex’s cock. “I can use you for my pleasures whenever… however? Push your boundaries?”

“As long as you…” Alex gasped, throwing his head back and moaning. “As long as you stop when I say too far.”

“Too far is your safe word, then.” Cryss smiled wickedly.

“Safe word?” Alex asked before pleasure took his breath away… and the ability to breathe for a few seconds. “I thought you weren’t into BDSM?”

“No is too easy to say,” Cryss replied, his hand a blur, eyes heavy lidded. “It slips out quickly sometimes, when we don’t even mean it. A panicked response to the unknown. To the overwhelming. It takes the brain a few seconds to remember a safe word—and in those seconds you might change your mind as you realize it feels too good to stop.” Cryss shivered, blinking slow. When he recaptured Alex’s gaze, he smiled. “No no longer works here, between us, from this moment forward. In our bed, that is.”

Alex bit back a moan, overwhelmed by the lust burning in Cryss’s eyes.

“You’ll stop doing that, too,” Cryss whispered. “Don’t hold back your voice. I wanna hear you sing.”

Alex clenched the sheets with both hands, moaning as he came. His back arched seconds before a wave of pleasure crashed over him. Thick drops of cum slid down Cryss’s hand. Cryss roared, gripping the head of his own cock and pumping down the length, adding jets of his seed on top of Alex’s cock.

When he came back down to earth, panting and fighting for air, Alex watched as Cryss lifted that hand that had gripped him and licked a path through their spent pleasure. After wiping the rest on the sheets, Cryss leaned forward and crawled up his body, capturing a kiss. Alex tasted them both on Cryss’s tongue and moaned from the flavor.

“You amaze me,” Cryss whispered as he drew back. “Just when I think I couldn’t be any luckier… you prove me wrong.” He dropped on the bed beside Alex and chuckled. “But I do have another request of you.”

“What is it?” Alex asked.

“I saw a hint of shame in your eyes when I found your toy. I don’t want you to think you can’t tell me what gets you off. I might be able to ferret out all your kinks given enough time, but I’d much rather you tell me. The more I know, the better I can make you feel.”

“Before a few weeks ago, I would’ve said I had no kinks. The tentacle thing has kind of come out of nowhere.” Alex smiled. “I’ve led a boring sex life until you. If I stumble over a new kink, I’ll try my best to get over my embarrassment and tell you.”

Cryss smiled, gazing lovingly as he brushed Alex’s hair with his fingertips. “That’s all I can ask. Thank you.” He rose on an elbow. “Ready for breakfast?”

“I think I might jump in the shower first, if you don’t mind?”

“I don’t.” Cryss smiled. “Hurry up, though. I have a surprise waiting for you in the living room.”

“Am I going to like this surprise?”

“I think so.” Cryss rose and cocked his head. “Up and at ‘em.”

Alex rolled out of bed, still too brain-fried to want to move. “If I must.” He walked into the bathroom, emptied his bladder, and started the shower. Cryss snuck in to use the sink, washing his hands before wandering back out. Alex didn’t linger, the regular California water restrictions having broken his habit of long showers. After drying off, he walked out to see Cryss dressed in jeans and a sweater, tossing their soiled sheets into a hamper, the bed completely made.

“How the hell did you get dressed and change the bed so fast? I was only in there five or six minutes.”

Cryss shrugged. “Fast, I guess. I’m starting a pot of coffee next. Any requests for breakfast?”

“Scrambled eggs, please.” Alex grinned, drying his hair again with the towel. “Whatever else you might like with it is fine with me.”

Cryss snuck a kiss on his way out. “You got it.”

Alex eyed the bed again and frowned. He walked into the closet, pulled on a pair of briefs and some socks. After pulling on some jeans, he scanned the sweaters—and found another one he knew he’d put back that he was sure hadn’t been there the day before. “Damn him.”

He pulled on a t-shirt and carried the unrequested sweater out with him. Marching into the living room, he stopped in his tracks, the heavy scent of pine hitting his nose. A Christmas tree, at least twelve feet tall, stood near the back wall of windows of the living room, near the fireplace—which was already lit and crackling—where they’d spend their afternoon the day before.

The tree was already covered with white lights from top to bottom. Strewn out around it were boxes and totes filled with hundreds of ornaments, ready to adorn the tree. He smiled to himself and searched for Cryss, who peeked out from the kitchen, grinning.

“It’s not Christmas without a tree, right?”

Alex eyed the massive fur. “When did you smuggle this in here?”

“Early this morning before you woke up. I found the decorations in the garage last night.” He wiped a hand over the front of the apron he was wearing. “I thought we could make it more festive in here. It’s supposed to storm like this most of the day, so it’s a good day to do it.”

Cryss’s gaze dropped to the sweater in his hand, reminding him he was supposed to be upset. He lifted it for Cryss. “Another item that accidentally got added to our bags?”

“Seems so,” Cryss murmured, fighting a smile.

Alex fought his own. “Please tell me this is the last of it.”

Cryss walked closer, carrying a silver bowl of eggs and whisk with him, swirling his hand as he moved. When he was half a foot from Alex, he stopped. “I watch and I pay attention. You tried to play it cool, but I noticed how much you liked the pieces you found there and it pleases me to be able to give them to you. It isn’t about buying your love or your body. Your pleasure is my pleasure. That extends out of the bedroom, too.”

Alex swallowed the lump in his throat. “Is that you asking me to pretend I’m pleased?”

Cryss frowned. “I saw that look in the mirror when I caught you in the closet. You were smiling ear-to-ear. That made me happy. So, no, I don’t want your pretense. I want your unbridled pleasure.” He paused searching Alex’s face. “There’s no keeping track. There’s nothing you owe me in return. Just let me see your joy. Not manufactured joy for my benefit, but the real thing.”

“Well, if this is just like what we’ll share in bed, then the safe word applies out here, too. If I say too far , then you stop.”

“Fair enough.”

“Are there any more pieces you’re planning to smuggle into the closet?”

“Yes,” Cryss murmured.

“Too far.”

“They were already bought before our new safe word rule. They’re grandfathered in.”

Alex sighed, cocking a brow.

“I won’t buy you anything else without your permission from today forward,” Cryss said, grinning mischievously a few seconds later. “Unless it’s a Christmas present. Or your birthday. Or my birthday.”

“Why would I get a gift on your birthday?”

“Because I get to do whatever I want on my birthday. There’s a law,” Cryss replied.

Alex grinned. “A law?”

“Yep,” Cryss replied. “Now put that sweater on. I turned the heat up, but it’s still a bit cool in here. My idiot cousin built a massive glass house on top of a snowy mountain.” He glanced down into the bowl, and an inhuman sound came from his mouth. “Chrrrsssh! I’ve overwhipped the egg whites, thank you very much. I’ll need to start over.” He lifted the whisk, filled with clumps of white foam, before turning for the kitchen.

“Egg whites are the secret?”

“One of many,” Cryss said over his shoulder. “Stick around long enough and you might learn another.”

Alex dragged the sweater over his head and down his torso. He snuck a peek at his reflection in the window and smiled.

“I saw that,” Cryss called from the kitchen.

“Good,” Alex yelled back on his way in there. He leaned on the island and watched Cryss work. “Do you want me to help in here or get started working on the tree?”

“The tree is a joint activity. Make yourself some coffee and keep me company.”

Alex grabbed a cup and did just that before asking, “You’re sure I can’t help make some bacon or toast or something?”

“Bacon’s in the oven already. It’s too early yet for toast, but I’ll let you know when you can.”

“Bacon in the oven?” Alex asked, sliding onto a stool.

“Mm-hmm,” Cryss murmured. “It tastes just like it was fried, and you don’t have to stand over it.”

“Well, you’re the chef here, not me. I’ll trust you.” Alex sipped his coffee, once again mesmerized by how comfortable Cryss was in a kitchen.

His hand moves with a blur when he whisks eggs, too. Just like it did on my cock.

Cryss paused a moment, lifting a heated stare, as if he’d heard Alex. He returned to his whisking without a word.

“You know, a wholesome activity like decorating the tree seems almost wrong after being so naughty this morning,” Alex said before his coffee.

“Who was naughty? Not us.” Cryss grinned. “And if we were, wholesome helps add balance to our day.”

Alex chuckled.

Breakfast was soon served, and they worked together to clean up before tackling the tree—which ultimately took hours to do. The thing was almost as wide as it was tall, so adding those hundreds of ornaments took time and attention. Especially since it did seem that Cryss was very particular about order, neatness, and balance. The neatly stacked clothes. The perfectly stacked and spaced toiletries. Alex was beginning to notice a pattern himself and suspected he’d need to exercise patience.

An hour into decorating the tree, he noticed how meticulously Cryss placed, moved, and reordered each ornament. “It seems very important to get this tree just right.”

“It is,” Cryss murmured. “It needs to be perfect for you.”

“I don’t expect perfection,” Alex replied.

Cryss eyed the ornament in his hand. “What happens if we don’t see another Christmas, and this is the only one we share?” He lifted his gaze to Alex. “I won’t halfass this.”

“You seemed pretty confident that this would last past January first.”

“The thing about star-crossed lovers is… the universe is always out to get them,” Cryss murmured, adding another ornament before stepping back to check it. He spun to Alex. “Hopefully that won’t happen, but that’s something I can’t control.” He waved a hand to the tree. “This is.”

“Okay.” Alex smiled.

Hours later, after the tree was finished, the totes and boxes returned to the garage, and they’d had dinner, they snuggled on the couch in the dark, the only illumination the crackling fire, the near-full moon outside the window, and their tree.

Alex rested his head on Cryss’s shoulder, twirling his glass of wine between thumb and forefinger, his gaze moving between the tree and the still falling snow, not sure what was more beautiful. “The tree really does look incredible.”

“It does,” Cryss agreed.

“You said you needed me to help decorate your house when you obviously have a very strong eye yourself. I sense you could do it on your own.”

“Maybe, but it would be more fun to do it together,” Cryss said. “I promise I won’t be as obsessive as I was with the tree.”

Alex lifted his gaze to Cryss’s. “Can I ask— do you have OCD? No judgment. I only ask because I want to know how to help if you do.”

Cryss eyed the tree. “I don’t know. Possibly.” He took a long sip from his glass, followed by a long, slow inhale and exhale. “It only happens when something’s deeply troubling me, and I can’t find a solution which isn’t often, fortunately. But when it does, my mind churns the problem over and over and I feel myself spiraling. There’s chaos within, so I organize the world around me to bring order to something.”

“What’s troubling you now? Is it me being here?”

Cryss turned his gaze to Alex, sadness in his eyes. “It’s me. But it may ultimately affect you.”

A hard knot formed in Alex’s stomach. “Should I be scared?”

“It’s about where I’m from,” Cryss murmured.

“Oh,” Alex murmured, a tiny bit relieved. “I thought you were about to tell me you were married or had a long-term illness—especially after that comment that it might be our only Christmas together.”

“I’m healthy, and there’s no one in my life romantically but you,” Cryss whispered, adding a soft smile. It didn’t last long. “I just want you to know how desperately I want to tell you about my life before I came to live at 34 th Street and the world I was running away from. I’m tired of hiding pieces of myself from you, but I need a little more time to find the courage to share that with you.”

“The only question I have to ask is—will this world you were running away from put either of us in danger?”

“No.”

“Then you take the time you need,” Alex whispered. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Cryss pressed a kiss to his lips before adding another to his forehead. “You’re a better man than I deserve. Far from average. You’re the most special thing in my life.”

Alex snuggled closer, returning his head to Cryss’s shoulder. He wouldn’t lie and say he didn’t feel worried about whatever Cryss struggled to share. But the fact he’d opened a dialogue hopefully meant he’d soon get it off his chest and Alex could decide if it was something they could work past. Whatever it was, Alex sensed it weighed heavily. He wanted to help shoulder some of that burden but would give Cryss space and time to work up the nerve.

Until then, he would try to push it from his mind and focus on their time together the best he could and make their holiday—be it their first together or their first-and-last—as happy as possible.