...“This Christmas will be wonderful,” Matt promised. “You’ll see.”

More than anything else, Vic wanted it to be. He’d never dated a man before Matt—yes, he’d had one-night stands and heated hook-ups with buddies, but nothing serious, nothing permanent, and sure as hell nothing that warranted the exchange of gifts. As his lover rummaged through his mind, Vic puckered his lips and blew a kiss at the tip of Matt’s nose. “Tell me what to get you,” he murmured. “Or give me some ideas, at least. Maybe even some guidelines, you know? Do you want a cruise? Satellite radio for your car? What?”

“Oh, Vic.” Releasing Vic’s waist, Matt scooted up to press his lips to his lover’s mouth, silencing him. One hand caressed the top of Vic’s bald head, the other brushed over his smooth, hairless cheek, massaging his face as Matt licked into him. Their kiss deepened; Vic found himself pinned back to the bed as Matt climbed onto him, his legs sliding open to straddle Vic’s girth, his buttocks mere inches from the tip of Vic’s thick cock. When he rocked back a little, breaking their kiss, Vic’s length bumped between Matt’s ass cheeks, exciting them both. “Guidelines,” Matt murmured, kissing Vic’s chin. “As long as this isn’t some sort of ploy to find out what I got you…”

Vic’s hands came up over Matt’s hips to knead his ass. “Please. I could easily find out.”

He closed his eyes in mock concentration, then expanded his mind until it pressed against Matt’s. “No!” his lover cried with a laugh. Instantly Vic found himself battering against a solid wall of resistance as Matt mentally held him back. “It’s a secret. You promised me you wouldn’t look.”

Relaxing his thoughts, Vic squeezed Matt’s ass in both hands and leaned toward him for a quick kiss. “I’m just playing. I don’t want to look—I want it to be a surprise. So you have some guidelines for me?”

Matt pouted, and Vic kissed him again, lingering this time. With his lips on Matt’s, he opened his mouth to part his lover’s. His tongue licked over his own lower lip first, then tasted Matt’s. When it moved to the top lip, its touch feathery, Matt took over. Turning his head to one side, he covered Vic’s mouth fully with his own, his tongue insistent as it ran over the roof of Vic’s mouth. Vic held him close, his arms encircling Matt’s narrow waist; between them, Matt’s cock hardened, piqued by their mounting passion.

Then Matt trailed tiny kisses along Vic’s jaw to his ear, where he took the pierced lobe between his teeth. Nibbling gently, he purred, “First off, keep it under fifty bucks.”

Vic had almost forgotten about those damn guidelines. Another kiss or two and he’d flip onto his stomach, spread his legs wide, and give Matt a real present. But apparently Matt wasn’t ready to let the conversation devolve into sex just yet, so Vic pulled away from the mouth on his ear to frown at his lover. “What? That’s not much.”

Propping his head up on one hand, his elbow buried in the pillow beside Vic’s head, Matt gave him a slow smile. “This is year one, Vic. You don’t go all out at the beginning or how do you top yourself next year?”

“Now you’re speaking my language,” Vic teased.

Matt slid off Vic but snuggled close to him, unwilling to go very far. Trailing a hand down Vic’s stomach, he plucked at the bulbous head of Vic’s cock. Each pinch, each squeeze, sent a shiver of delight through Vic. When the first beads of translucent pre-cum bubbled from his tip, Matt wiped them away with his hand, then put his finger in his mouth to savor the taste. “Fifty bucks,” he repeated. “That’s about all I spent. I mean, our anniversary’s a week later.”

Vic sighed. Shit. That meant another present. But Matt kissed his cheek, his breath warm on Vic’s skin as he whispered, “Don’t worry, dinner and a movie will suffice for that.”

“What about Christmas?” Vic asked.

Matt’s hand traveled back down his stomach as if drawn to his crotch by a magnet. As he fondled Vic, he said, “Fifty bucks or so. And it has to be something sexual.”

Vic laughed. “What?”

“You heard me.” Matt shrugged. Lowering his cheek to the pillow beside Vic’s, he draped his free arm around Vic’s head to toy with his right ear. The other hand encircled his shaft, kneading gently to work him hard. “Something sexual. I figure we got plenty of time to use it, right? You’re getting off the whole week.”

Raising his hips up from the bed, Vic thrust into Matt’s hand. “I’m close to getting off now,” he admitted. “If you want to come with…”

Matt stretched across Vic, reaching for the half-empty tube of lubricant on his bedside table. As he squirted a generous dollop into his palms and began to slick his cock, he laughed. “I’m already there. Turn over, big boy. Let me at that sexy ass of yours.”